Samsung's entry level touch and type Android phone has a lot of features like dual SIM, but how is it to use? We find out.
Samsung Galaxy Y Pro Duos is an entry level Android offering from Samsung with full Qwerty keypad and dual SIM function at Rs 8,900. While the combination of these features makes it an interesting proposition it is important that performance is equally promising.
We used the phone for two weeks and here is our take on its performance.
The phone is a bar shaped unit with half the front dedicated to a Qwerty keypad, trackpad and other control buttons. The rest is its 2.6 inch screen. The rear of the phone has a nice textured design with smooth finish. There is a camera in the top centre flanked by a speaker grill on the left. The volume key is on the top left and power/lock button are on the top right.
At the bottom is the microUSB slot and the 3.5 mm jack is at the top. For a microSD card slot and SIM slot you will need to open the back cover. Overall, the handset has a good quality feel to it, and the placement of ports and buttons are spot on.
The keypad spacing and feedback are good. The trackpad is responsive too. However, the display is a tad too small for a good Android experience.
Display
The display is a 2.6 inch unit with 320 x 240 pixels, which is low and a similarly priced HTC Chacha boasts 480 x 320 pixels. However, others in this range, like the Motorola Fire and LG Optimus Pro, also get a similar resolution but on a bigger 2.8 inch screen. Due to low resolution individual pixels are visible
The screen is disappointing also because it does not support multi touch input, which Motorola Fire and its other competitors do.
Due to its horizontal layout the basic menu, call, contacts and messages bar is placed vertically and remains there in all three home pages that the phone offers.
Display size is a tad too small to offer a full Android experience. However, the trackpad saves the day, making it easier to navigate the small screen. Samsung's touchwiz user interface also makes it easier to use the phone with some intelligent tweaks to the standard Android interface.
Keypad and controls
The keypad is well designed; spacing and placement of buttons is spot on. This makes typing very easy.
The trackpad and the Android buttons which are placed just above the keypad are big and easy to locate even in the dark because of etched logos. The rest of the keypad is backlit.
The trackpad works on all screens and is responsive to both touch and trackpad commands without any lag.
Camera
The phone gets a 3.15 megapixel camera at the back and a front facing VGA camera which you can use for both self portraits as well as voice chat.
There is no LED flash and therefore low light photography is out of the question. However, in decent lighting conditions the pictures taken are well worth what the specifications suggest. Colour reproduction and sharpness are both decent. Though there is no dedicated camera button the trackpad can be used as one.
The sharing of images, or different scene modes and settings are all easy to handle thanks to Samsung's Touchwiz user interface.
Dual SIM function
The phone's main claim to fame is its dual SIM function, which lets you manage both the SIM cards with the touch of a button. You can select your primary SIM card for data connections, and which one is for calling and other functions.
While calling or sending SMSs it's easy to choose between the two SIM cards. There is a separate section in the settings menu for managing the SIM cards, and it is easy to understand.
Multimedia
On the multimedia front the phone doesn't disappoint. The music player is nice and easy to use. The radio is also well sorted and unlike most Android phones offers full control on a single screen.
The videos also play well, though the low resolution screen means the pixels are visible. However, videos played without any jitters or framing.
The earpiece supplied with the phone is of an in-ear type. It has clear sound and serves well for music as well as voice calls.
Performance and battery
The phone performs well for its specifications, though a slow 832 MHz processor is not really a scorcher and therefore playing a lot of games and multitasking slows it down. Nevertheless, the phone is up to the task for web access, a little bit of gaming, taking pictures, and other day to day uses.
The battery of the phone is a 1350 mAh unit, which is not the biggest in the segment. However, thanks to the smaller screen size the battery is able to support the phone for two full days' low to medium usage.
Verdict
For its price the performance of the phone is decent, but the touch display is a big disappointment as it does not support multitouch and has a low resolution. With the price of Chacha being cut by HTC, Samsung's device faces tougher competition. Two other touch and type Android phones in this price range have bigger screens but almost identical specs.
On the whole, the phone does perform as expected with it specifications and price, and is in fact more sorted than its competition. The biggest trump card of Galaxy Pro Duos is the fact that it is a dual SIM phone, which is not the case with HTC Chacha, LG Optimus Pro or Motorola Fire. The phone very well justifies its price of Rs 8,900.
Raj Rajput [ MBA ]
Mobile Reviews Expert
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