Samsung Galaxy Y Netphone Edition Review
The Samsung Galaxy Y (Netphone Edition) is probably one of the best entry-level smartphones available in the market today. It sells for just Php5,990 (Prepaid Kit) which is a steal if you think about the entire package you’re getting. We currently have a review unit courtesy of Smart (click here for the unboxing) and we’ve been using it heavily in the last week so we have a good gauge if this is something worth recommending to our readers. Check out our full comprehensive review below.
Form Factor
The Samsung Galaxy Y looks like a mini Samsung Galaxy SII. It has a noticeably smaller screen and it’s a bit thicker. It actually reminds me a lot of the iPhone 3G, albeit smaller. The SAMSUNG logo is proudly displayed at the front with just above the screen. There’s also another logo at the back of the device near the bottom. Speaking of the back the Samsung Galaxy Y has some sort of grated silver back which makes it easier to grip.
The three standard Android buttons can be found at the bottom. The only tactile button is the home button at the center. The other two are actually touch sensitive. On the upper left you’ll find volume controls and at the upper right is the lock/unlock button. At the top is the standard 3.5 audio jack and the mini-USB dock.
Over-all the build is decent. It’s really cool how nice this phone looks despite the Php5,990 price tag.
Display
With a price tag of Php5,990, something has to give right? That’s true with the Samsung Galaxy Y. The display is definitely a letdown. The touchscreen is 3″ (smaller than the usual 3.5″) with a resolution of 240×320 (~133 ppi). Personally it’s an eyesore for me since I’m used to the Retina Display of the iPhone 4 which has more than double the pixels per inch of the Galaxy Y with ~326 ppi. The original Smart Netphone 701 even has a better display with a 3.5″ screen and ~267ppi.
This is my one and only major complaint with the Samsung Galaxy Y. If they increased the pixel density to the same level as the Netphone 701 I wouldn’t mind paying an additional Php1,000-Php1,500.
Performance
This is where I think the Galaxy Y does well especially if you remember that you got this for just Php5,990. The phone packs a 823MHz processor and has the latest Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system. Most phones in this price range usually just have a 600MHz processor and Android 2.2 Froyo. This results to a smoother experience in going through applications like social networking, messaging, RSS reading (via Pulse), and web browsing. Oh and Angry Birds works well too!
Be cautious though with the number of apps running. This phone only has 256RAM and some apps may crash especially if there are several apps in the background. This has only happened to me once though and that’s when the phone got bombarded with several notifications all at the same time and I was playing Angry Birds, hehe.
Camera
The Samsung Galaxy Y camera is just 2.0MP with no flash and auto focus. Don’t let that fool you though that the camera 100% sucks. If you take pictures in good lighting the photos come out pretty well! Check out the photo below which I took of my lovely wife just outside of the TV5 office in Novaliches. Since the sun was out the lighting was perfect.
Don’t even bother taking photos though in low light conditions. The pictures that come out are just horrible.
Battery Life
If I start my day at 100% and leave the house at 9AM the Samsung Galaxy Y will have around 10-15% come 6-7PM without charging in the afternoon. Note though that I’m use my phone a lot. I use it to send a lot of e-mails and texts daily. I make at least 5-8 calls a day, and sometimes that even reaches 15-20. I also have 3G constantly on with notifications for Facebook, Twitter, and e-mail.
The good thing about the Samsung Galaxy Y though is that the battery is replaceable. Just buy the same battery in Greenhills and you’re all set! Just make sure it’s fully charged. That gives you twice the juice. That’s something you can’t do with an iPhone.
Verdict
Like what we said at the beginning of this post the Samsung Galaxy Y is one of the best entry-level Android smartphones in the market today. I just can’t think of any other phone with a price tag of Php5,990 that can beat this device.
We highly recommend the Samsung Galaxy Y Netphone for anyone who is thinking of getting their first smartphone or for techies who need a budget-friendly secondary phone. Two thumbs up to Samsung and Smart for this fantastic smartphone. 🙂
PS: I write a weekly column for the Tech Section of Interaksyon. In my most recent article I did a comparison of the Smart Netphone 701 and the Samsung Galaxy Y Netphone. Guess who won?
