The Samsung Galaxy Y sports a lovely black facia with a textured silver effect at the back which enhances the grip. Its light weight is certainly a result of using low grade plastic, however, the construction appears solid enough and it feels great to hold for longer periods.
Vodafone’s apps also provide you with a music store for downloading the latest chart toppers and a Remote Support app (Vodafone Rescue) which allows a support representative to take control of your smartphone to fix any problems. We thought this was a really nice touch for smartphone novices
Unfortunately the phone’s Achilles heel was the 240x320 resolution. Even at maximum brightness the display was a little dull and the fonts weren’t as sharp as the other products. some games from the Android market were not available either and although we managed to run Angry birds it did require a lot of careful hand placement to activate the multi-touch controls. Our thumbs would occasionally hit the outer casing rather than the screen.
We also needed to install a memory card, as like the other products performance can degrade if u don’t mange the number of installed internal
programs. However, it’s not all bad news as the videos we ran had a nice natural colour tone and the selection of games we could install ran perfectly. YouTube streaming performance was excellent.
Sadly, battery life did not fare too well in our video test with just 34% remaining after two hours. Along with Wi-Fi usage the phone would require a daily charge. A good camera offered some redemption. (Android magazine)
Design
The Samsung is certainly light due to the plastic material, but it looks a lot more expensive than its price suggests and the construction Is still relatively solid. I also liked the textured backing that enhanced the phone’s grip for longer call periods.
General performance
The CPU is more than capable, but the lower screen resolution did hamper controls on a few games, and once again a memory card was needed to resolve low memory issues. However for YouTube streaming, the phone performed well.
Features
We liked the Touch Wiz UI and the supplied Vodafone apps, including the Remote Support app that is great for beginners. The supplied music player offered a great experience and the camera was surprisingly competent.
Battery life
Battery life was poor it has to be said with only 34% remaining after our two-hour video test. Wi-Fi usage does zap its life quickly so you need to keep your mains charger handy at all times.
Powering up the device does require a hefty press of the on/off button and it can take a while for the OS to
appear, but once loaded you’re greeted by Samsung’s Touch Wiz UI and a handful of Vodafone’s pre-installed apps.
The UI thankfully is less overpowering (in terms of customisation) than the Blaze and we liked the web browser which automatically scales the website to fit the smaller screen. The music player even shares characteristics with the more expensive Samsung range so you get a nice immersive 5.1 surround sound option with your headphones plugged in.
appear, but once loaded you’re greeted by Samsung’s Touch Wiz UI and a handful of Vodafone’s pre-installed apps.
The UI thankfully is less overpowering (in terms of customisation) than the Blaze and we liked the web browser which automatically scales the website to fit the smaller screen. The music player even shares characteristics with the more expensive Samsung range so you get a nice immersive 5.1 surround sound option with your headphones plugged in.
Vodafone’s apps also provide you with a music store for downloading the latest chart toppers and a Remote Support app (Vodafone Rescue) which allows a support representative to take control of your smartphone to fix any problems. We thought this was a really nice touch for smartphone novices
Unfortunately the phone’s Achilles heel was the 240x320 resolution. Even at maximum brightness the display was a little dull and the fonts weren’t as sharp as the other products. some games from the Android market were not available either and although we managed to run Angry birds it did require a lot of careful hand placement to activate the multi-touch controls. Our thumbs would occasionally hit the outer casing rather than the screen.
We also needed to install a memory card, as like the other products performance can degrade if u don’t mange the number of installed internal
programs. However, it’s not all bad news as the videos we ran had a nice natural colour tone and the selection of games we could install ran perfectly. YouTube streaming performance was excellent.
Sadly, battery life did not fare too well in our video test with just 34% remaining after two hours. Along with Wi-Fi usage the phone would require a daily charge. A good camera offered some redemption. (Android magazine)
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| Tech Specs: OS: Android 2.3.5 Processor: 830 MHz ARMv6 Memory: 290MB available RAM 180MB storage Display: 240x320 picels Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth V 3.0, GPS, 3G HSDPA 7.2 Mbps Camera: 2MP rear, QVGA@15fps video recording Dimension: 104x58x11.5 mm Weight: 97.5g |
The Samsung is certainly light due to the plastic material, but it looks a lot more expensive than its price suggests and the construction Is still relatively solid. I also liked the textured backing that enhanced the phone’s grip for longer call periods.
General performance
The CPU is more than capable, but the lower screen resolution did hamper controls on a few games, and once again a memory card was needed to resolve low memory issues. However for YouTube streaming, the phone performed well.
Features
We liked the Touch Wiz UI and the supplied Vodafone apps, including the Remote Support app that is great for beginners. The supplied music player offered a great experience and the camera was surprisingly competent.
Battery life was poor it has to be said with only 34% remaining after our two-hour video test. Wi-Fi usage does zap its life quickly so you need to keep your mains charger handy at all times.