Friday, 14 February 2014

Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 Review

Samsung was one of the first companies to really run with the idea of big-screen phones. Others had tried before and failed, but Samsu... thumbnail 1 summary

04:20

Samsung was one of the first companies to really run with the idea of big-screen phones. Others had tried before and failed, but Samsung managed to turn its original Galaxy Note into a massive success. Big screens have since percolated down to the more budget-oriented phones, but these usually have lower resolutions and weaker processors, negating many of the advantages phones that size. Samsung's own Galaxy Grand was meant to appeal to people who wanted a big screen just for the sake of having a big screen, without paying flagship-level prices.
The original Galaxy Note had a 5.3-inch 800x1280-pixel screen, which was pretty cutting-edge in 2011. Today, you can get full-HD 1080x1920-pixel screens in phones that cost a quarter of what Samsung's late-2011 flagship did at the time of its launch. The company's latest budget big-screen offering, the 5.25-inch Galaxy Grand 2, actually matches the original Note in terms of screen size and resolution. It's only 0.05 inches smaller, and runs at the 16:9 resolution of 720x1280 which is just as tall but a little bit narrower.

In fact, the Galaxy Grand 2 is the perfect example of how far technology has progressed in the past few years. You're getting specifications that match or exceed a flagship that's just a few years old at roughly half its price.
But that fact alone doesn't make the Galaxy Grand 2 a winner. The competitive landscape is full of oversized phones from budget as well as premium multinational brands in the same price range. Some of them offer full-HD screens while others offer octa-core processors. Our detailed analysis of the Galaxy Grand 2's features, specifications and performance will determine whether or not it's good enough to beat them.
Look and Feel
At first glance, the Galaxy Grand 2 is rather striking. Its front face is totally consistent with the rest of Samsung's lineup; a look that hasn't changed much in years. Compared to its predecessor, the Grand 2 is a little more squared off, but is otherwise pretty much the same. There's a shiny chrome-finished ring around its edges, with a similarly shiny earpiece and Samsung and Duos logos above the screen. There's even a matching ring around the home button, just for good measure. The glass front panel is slightly sunken, which makes the metallic elements seem to rise through and around it. Beneath the glass is a white plastic layer with a very subtle honeycomb pattern for texture. It's the sort of thing you only notice if you look at the phone very closely.