NEW
DELHI: Galaxy Star is a very important smartphone. In many ways, it is
more important than the likes of Galaxy S4, iPhone 5 and HTC One that
are usually in limelight.
With a market price
of less than Rs 5,000, this is the cheapest Android phonea big
companySamsung. Unlike many other affordable smartphones that run two or
three years old versions of the OS, Galaxy Star is powered by Jelly
Bean (Android 4.1).
For consumers — and there are millions of
them in India — looking to movea feature phone to an affordable
smartphone, Galaxy Star seemsa tantalizing option.
All depends on whether the device delivers on its promises or not.
After
spending a considerable time with it, we can answer this question in
affirmative. Yes, Galaxy Star did what it was supposed to do. It is a
good Android phone for its price. But sadly it fell short of what we
expected it to do.
So,does that leave you, the consumer? Should you buy Galaxy Star or not? The answer depends on what you wantyour smartphone.
Case for Galaxy Star
It
looks cute: At a time when big 5-inch screen phones are commonplace,
using Galaxy Star is a refreshing change. It is small and looks cute
with its rounded edges. It is also rather chubby, which gives it a
pebble look. The shell of Galaxy Star is madeglossy plastic but for
style, Samsung has added a plastic frame with faux metal finish around
the screen and a small ring around the camera. Overall, we were pleased
with the build quality. It has top class finish, which is much better
than what you get with phones sold by local OEMs.
Decent
screen: The screen in Galaxy Star is not perfect but it is acceptable,
considering its low price. It is bright and shows decent colours. It
also has a comparatively good touch response. Yes, the screen size is
too small and resolution too low but in terms ofshowing colours, we
found it pretty good.
Best in class email, IM,
and Facebook experience: The biggest strength of Galaxy Star is the OS
it runs. Jelly Bean, which Samsung has customized with its Touchwiz user
interface, allows a user to access popular servicesGmail, Google Talk,
Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp. We checked out these services on the
device and found they work very well. This is a big plus for Galaxy Star
as it brings a decent email and web communication experience at a price
of Rs 5,000.
Access to very good apps,
including quality games: The presence of Android Jelly Bean also means
you have access to almostAndroid apps, provided the hardware in Galaxy
Star can handle them. You can download and installsorts of music
players, instant messages and utility appsthe Play store. As far as
games are concerned, you can't play somethingNeed For Speed Swift, which
require lots of graphics horsepower, but gamesTemple Run or Jewels Star
can be played. Also, there is no GPS in the phone. This means
navigation apps that require precise location don't work well with the
device.
Decent battery life: Galaxy Star lasts
around 14 hours when used with 2G data connection. It's not great but
is above average. Acceptable camera: The 2MP camera in Galaxy Star is
capable of shooting clear images in daylight. Considering the low
resolution, they don't have much in terms of details, but the colours
come out well. The images are good enough to be shared on social media
sites, especially if you use filters. There are many photo apps in the
Android store. They work well on Galaxy Star and you can use them to get
the best out of the camera. As expected, in low light and for video
shoots the camera fares poorly.
Case against Galaxy Star
Small
screen and low resolution: Of these two issues, low resolution is
particularly bothersome. On a feature phone, consumers often don't mind
low resolution because they don't expect to browse web or watch videos
on it. On an Android smartphones, expectations are different. The text
on Galaxy Star doesn't look sharp and within apps it is difficult to
make out fine user interface details due to the low resolution screen.
Small screen is also an issue. We wish that Samsung could have brought
its A game to the affordable phone market and had given Galaxy Star a
bigger screen.
Slow performance: While Galaxy
Star has fairly decent hardware for its price, if you push the phone
hard it starts to lag. AppsFacebook, Gmail and WhatsApp work well. Even
web browsing works well if you stick to mobile version of websites. But a
bit more demanding tasks make the phone slow. Pinch-to-zoom while
browsing full websites is slow, especially on Chrome browser. The phone
can run gamesTemple Run, but there are occasions when it may miss a
touch or swipeyou, frustrating your efforts to create new records while
running awaythe monster. Multitasking is supported but low amount of RAM
means apps running in background are often flushed out of the memory to
make space for the active apps.
No 3G: Galaxy
Star can only handle Wi-Fi and 2G (EDGE) connection. This creates two
issues. One, due to 2G pings and slow speed, the phone feels slower than
it is because appsFacebook or web browsers take extra seconds to
display or process content. The second issue is that you can't use
Galaxy Star as a modem to access fast internet. Tethering, which allows
use of an Android phone with a SIM as modem to provide Wi-Fi
connectivity to other devices, is supported. But speed is limited to 2G,
which is poor.
Star vs Asha Given the price
of Galaxy Star, it is obvious to compare it to Nokia Asha 501. We
haven't reviewed the Nokia device yet but we have used it enough to tell
you how Galaxy Star and Asha 501 fare.
Both
devices offer solid build quality, similar camera performance and
similar connectivity options (no 3G on Asha 501). Overall, Asha 501
feels marginally faster during the use. But it is saddled with an
interface and app ecosystem that is inferior to what Galaxy Star offers.
If you want a phone primarily for making calls and messages, Asha 501
is a good option.
But if you want a phone that
can handle more than calls and messages, Galaxy Star is a better deal.
It is a better device for browsing the web, playing games, accessing
emails (especially if you use Gmail) and using Facebook. It also offers
access to more and vastly better apps as well as contact and calendar
management through Google services, which is a real boon.
Final
words As we said earlier, Galaxy Star delivers on the promises it
makes. It is one of the better Android phones for Rs 5,000. But then it
fails to meet the expectations that we havea companySamsung. The low-end
Android market needs something that breaks new ground and offers decent
Android experience, even if it is basic, in a device that has at least a
4-inch screen and support for 3G.
Buy Galaxy
Star if you are looking for an affordable Android device that can help
you keep in touch with your friends on Facebook and Gmail as well as let
you access smart functionsGoogle contacts and Google calendar. But if
you intend to use it for playing games, watching videos or browsing
internet, we suggest you spend a bit more and buy an Android phone that
sells for around Rs 8,000 to Rs 9,000.
Specs 2.9-inch capacitive touchscreen (240 x 320 pixels resolution)
1GHz single-core processor
Mali 300 graphics chip
512MB RAM
4GB internal storage
support for up to 32GB microSD card
2-megapixel camera, QVGA video recording
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 2G, dual sim
1200mAh battery
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
Price: Rs 4,999
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