Review - Samsung Galaxy Grand – The New Mid-range Segment King!

Samsung recently launched its new phablet sporting a 5.0 inch screen, 1.2GHz dual core processor, 1GB RAM, 8GB internal storage (expandable to 64GB), 8MP primary camera, 2MP secondary camera and Android OS, v4.1.2 (Jelly Bean). Those who find Samsung Tab 2 too large and Note II too expensive can actually consider Galaxy Grand which is mix of both worlds i.e. you get a large screen yet compact enough to handle and features & respectable performance for every day's use.


My sister was looking for a new Android based smartphone and within the budget of 20K no other phone caught my fancy.


This device is available for Rs. 21,500 and if you are lucky then you may get this phone for little lower depending on the place of purchase. We bought this phone for Rs. 21,000 and it comes with a free flip cover worth Rs. 1500 and 50GB dropbox contract. This is a dual SIM phone and that is advantageous.

(Please click on the picture to view high resolution version)







Coming to the exterior - The Galaxy Grand looks identical to Note II and S3 which is quite obvious as this phone is stripped down version of these phones. Features like smart stay of Note II is also available on this phone. Now even being a phablet it is very easy to hold and use the phone with single hand. The 5" inch screen is LCD Capacitive touchscreen with 480 x 800 pixels, 5.0 inches (~187 ppi pixel density). I am not really happy with the resolution offered by Samsung on device of this size, it must have been greater but that's not a deal breaker for sure.


It has a 2MP camera for video calling purpose and an 8MP snapper which is capable of doing 1080p videos @ 30fps. Other features like autofocus, geo tagging, smile detection etc are also available. Picture quality is fine for outdoors but could have been better for indoor low light condition shots. Shutter is not as fast as compared to my HTC One V which comes with dedicated image chip.


The exterior body has premium glossy touch along with chrome boundary line.




Like most Samsung phones it has a volume rocker on left side.





The usual 3.5mm audio jack on the top of the device.



The charging/data transfer port.





The power button on the right side of the phone as in most Samsung phones




The Phone looks premium and looks like mini Note II




The original Samsung flip cover for Galaxy Grand.




The Box and the phone


Please note that the screen is normal LCD type unlike the super AMOLED display which comes in high end S3 and Note II. Along with that the resolution is below par and just may not satisfy people who are used to high end smartphones like Note II. But still it's just fine, it's responsive and serves the purpose.


Galaxy Grand comes with a 1.2 GHz dual core processor which is capable of running most of the usual stuff which an average android user looks for. It has 1 GB RAM which will be sufficient for most games like Temple Run II, raging thunder 2 etc. Samsung is not providing a free SD card with the phone yet as it comes with 8GB internal storage out of which around 5GB is usable. However one can add a SD card upto 64GB as per requirements.


The sound quality is fantastic both for external speaker and stock earphones which came with the device. One can add two SIM cards in the phone but I have not done that yet so can't comment much on this. On the rear side you will find an 8 MP camera with LED flash and a speaker. Call quality is excellent - way better than my HTC One V.





Performance wise this device does fairly well considering its 1.2 GHz dual core processor and 1 GB RAM. It would have been even better if Samsung provided 1.5 GHz dual core heart for this phone.







Galaxy Grand comes with Android 4.1.2 Jellybean and few pre-installed Samsung Apps like Chaton etc.







The familiar music player which is easy to use and loaded with features












There are 7 homescreens which you can customize according to your requirements by adding number of apps and widgets. It has multi window feature which offers instant multitasking and comes very handy for power users. Navigating through different screens, menus and apps is smooth and snappier. Samsung is providing 50GB of dropbox storage space free for 2 years. Browsing is quick and smooth with the stock browser. Pinch feature is convenient to use.

Battery capacity is 2100 mah, removable type which is a kind of good thing. It is quite early to comment on the backup time but it will easily last for a day as I am fiddling with this phone since morning and there is still around 20% juice left in the battery. Will update after using it for few more days.

Summing up this review I would say that this phone is just perfect combination of Tab2 and Samsung's flagship models like Note II and S3 in terms of screen size, features and respectable performance.

In fact I would say that this is the best Android smartphone that money can buy in mid range segment.

PS - I am in no way an expert Android user/reviewer. This review is completely based on my views, user experience and may have possible shortcomings. Please bear with that.

Thanks folks for reading!


Complete set of pictures and review on In Search Of My Kind Of World & The Story So Far: Review - Samsung Galaxy Grand ? The New Mid-range Segment King!
 
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From the benchmarks posted, it looks like the GPU used is not really up to the mark. CPU, Mem and I/O scores look good, but the 2D and 3D just pulls the overall score down.

Nice pics and review, hope you enjoy your phone. Thank you.

aX
 
considering your budget,the micromax a116 HD should have caught your fancy.the galaxy grand isn't a bad phone,but it is surely not the mid-segment budget king.that crown will go to the micromax one(at least until the umi x2 wounds up at the indian shores)and it will sell for 5000 ruppees less to boot(pre order's begin on 14th feb).
 
My friend looking to buy it. He's kinda worried about the resolution (just 187ppi).
I have played with the phone in a Samsung shop for few minutes - as OP has mentioned, its not much of a deal breaker.
 
The major thing is resolution which is just 400 X 800, too low for a 5' display. There are better options for 22K if you go for a smaller screen like 4.3" - 4.5".
 
go for sony ion ..you can get HD display ..fonts will look much better in sony HD

image-6F95_5118ED55.jpg
 
I have used the phone and resolution aint too bad. Its decently powered and the cam is good too. Though bulky the build quality is not shabby either. So definitely this is the best premium phone for people looking for dual sim options.
 
@OP
Nice looking phone, but 187 ppi for 5" screen is not acceptable. I would have suggested L9(18.5k) at this price point. Bit smaller screen size(4.7") but performance wise better than Galaxy Grand. And for our surprise LG announce JB update for L9.

GPU used in Grand is below par, and L9 uses SGX540, which plays most games w/o any hiccup.
 
This phone looks like a good buy if dual-SIM is one of your requirements. Otherwise there are many better offerings.
 
^ +1. Dual SIM is the only USP of this phone, otherwise there are several better options in comparison to this.
 
^^ Samsung is well known for not doing this. Do you think they decrease price by such huge margin? Nope. They simple leave the phone at the price tag and release better phone as competition for this one. Sooner or later it will happen
 
^^ galaxy S duos which was selling for 17 -18 K is now 12.5K .Even 11K with coupon as i read here on a thread . and its amazing power of samsung brand that they can sell a single core smartphone at 12.5K .

It makes no sense to buy this at 21.5 k when you get Galaxy S3 for just 7K more

The King of midrange mobiles is on way from china UMI X2.
 
rajkumar_pb said:
@OP
Nice looking phone, but 187 ppi for 5" screen is not acceptable. I would have suggested L9(18.5k) at this price point. Bit smaller screen size(4.7") but performance wise better than Galaxy Grand. And for our surprise LG announce JB update for L9.

GPU used in Grand is below par, and L9 uses SGX540, which plays most games w/o any hiccup.
Click to expand...

so you would prefer buying the sgx540 toting l9 over the a116HD which has the sgx 544 gpu?people stop buying bullshit products spewed from these large profit mongering mnc's and pay heed to the small emerging indian manufacturers like MM(or go for chinese models).the htc butterfly has a MRP of rs.45000,and for what?aside from the high end s4 SoC,i feel the money is being demanded for the 1080p screen.well guess what?the umi x2 has that,at rs.13000(and yeah with a weaker SoC,but surprisingly still competent,suck on that htc).
 
Good review.

Read somewhere that grand will be reduced by 4-5k in few days as current offers of Free cover & drop box bla bla is on.

If you can wait then this would come down by 5k atleast.
 
sudhanshu123 said:
so you would prefer buying the sgx540 toting l9 over the a116HD which has the sgx 544 gpu?people stop buying bullshit products spewed from these large profit mongering mnc's and pay heed to the small emerging indian manufacturers like MM(or go for chinese models).the htc butterfly has a MRP of rs.45000,and for what?aside from the high end s4 SoC,i feel the money is being demanded for the 1080p screen.well guess what?the umi x2 has that,at rs.13000(and yeah with a weaker SoC,but surprisingly still competent,suck on that htc).
Click to expand...

I don't recommend MMX because of their poor after sales service. If still think it is worth investing in A116 HD, go for it, but beware of their unit non replacement policy. Whatever happens, they will never give you the new piece. Only the refurbished.

No idea about UMI though, but for me, investing 10k means, i need peace of mind.
 
To TS/Reviewer

Great review......thanks for posting here, but IMHO 1 thing is missing.....You forget to post a picture with screen/LCD turn On.

Anyhow it will be great if those free software offer which is Dropbox A/C and free movie + music what ever withdrawn by samsung and reduce the price. I prefer flip cover in- the- box remain forever just like Nokia 808 cover.

- - - Updated - - -

To TS/Reviewer

Great review......thanks for posting here, but IMHO 1 thing is missing.....You forget to post a picture with screen/LCD turn On.

Anyhow it will be great if those free software offer which is Dropbox A/C and free movie + music what ever withdrawn by samsung and reduce the price. I prefer flip cover in- the- box remain forever just like Nokia 808 cover.
 
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