Review Full marks to Samsung’s marketing folk for the Galaxy Fit’s go-getting name, but it’s actually a fairly low-end Android smart phone with an outdated OS, low resolution screen and less than speedy processor. That said, it has a few good points too, including a surprisingly good 5Mp Camera.
Exercise equipment? Samsung’s Galaxy Fit
Bearing a passing resemblance to the recently released Galaxy Mini (aren’t there an awful lot of Galaxys recently?) the Fit has a similar glossy black fascia surrounded by chrome-look trim on its gently curved edges. What looks like a D-pad beneath the screen is actually the Android home button, flanked by touch sensitive menu and back buttons (there’s no search). Read the rest of this entry »
Review 10.1? The impression I get with the naming of this much-anticipated grown-up version of last year’s Galaxy Tab is that it has psychological hangups about (ahem) ‘size’. I imagine it loitering down the pub, boasting of its prowess: “It’s not just TEN inches, Al, it’s TEN-point-ONE!” It wants to be the Spinal Tap of Android Tablets, with Nigel Tufnel asserting that other 10in tablets only go up to, well, 10.
Classier and less gadgety: all that extra screen space makes a big difference
You can’t blame Samsung for showing off its nice new screen size, though. The original 7in Galaxy Tab was an interesting experiment in product design but it suffered from those mid-size blues: too big to be a phone, too small to be a netbook, and sporting an underpowered operating system in Android 2.2. Read the rest of this entry »
Review Sometimes the Mark II versions of phones feel like they’ve had little more than a light skim with the update brush. Yet with the Samsung Galaxy S II, this is certainly not the case. While, the original Galaxy S was a fine handset, this latest refit includes dual core processor, stunning AMOLED screen, a fine 8Mp Camera, over-air syncing and more, all packed within one of the slimmest enclosures you’re likely to come across.
Second coming: Samsung Galaxy S II
The handset measures 125 x 66 x 8.5mm, which almost makes it feel more like a stretched out playing card than a top-of-the-range Android smartphone. Not only is it very slim, at 115g it’s very light too, though part of that can be attributed to the rather flimsy plastic back panel. Read the rest of this entry »
Samsung’s Galaxy Portal is the Korean firm’s latest dip into Android waters and for now it’s exclusive to T-Mobile. It’s been available in Europe since last year as the Galaxy Spica but, unlike most Samsung smartphones, this is pure Android. There isn’t the slightest hint of Samsung’s TouchWiz interface, so it’s effectively a clean slate, to do with as you will. In terms of features, it’s an avowedly midrange quad band handset, with a LCD touch screen, 3.2Mp Camera, Wi-Fi and AGPS.
T-Mobile UK exclusive: Samsung’s Galaxy Portal i5700
Glossy black and slim at 115 x 57 x 13mm and 124g, the Galaxy Portal is standard Samsung touchscreen fare. Beneath the screen Samsung has crammed in no less than seven buttons in a not terribly tidy configuration: menu and back, plus call start and stop surrounding a diamond-shaped navpad, with additional buttons for home and the web nudging in at the sides.
The web button seems a bit superfluous, since you can easily access the same function from the screen, but the home button proved invaluable, since the call stop key doesn’t double up as a home key, as you might expect. Around the sides are a volume rocker and Camera shutter button. Read the rest of this entry »
