Samsung Galaxy Grand review – Dual core with 1080p video recording support

The Samsung Galaxy Grand is powered by 1.2GHz dual core processor with 1GB RAM running Jelly Bean OS with TouchWiz UI. The performance is excellent, features are impressive but I think it’s over priced.

The Galaxy Grand Box pack
Inside the box you will find the Grand handset, a free flip cover, USB to Micro USB cable, premium quality earphone, ear plug cover, 2100 mAh battery, power adapter and user guide.

Design
Almost all of the Samsung Galaxy models have the same design. The handset is sleek (9.6mm thickness) and weighs 161 grams.  The rear side is glossy white with finger resistance coating and the front side surrounding the screen is also white color. The sides are silver colour. The Grand is available in white and metallic blue.

On the top side there is the 3.5mm jack, on left the volume rockers, on the side right the power/ lock button and on the bottom side there is the mic and micro USB port.

5 inch Display
The 5 inch screen is simple TFT screen not an AMOLED screen and the display resolution is 800×480 pixels. For the price the resolution is too low. They should have given a slightly better resolution. There is light, proximity, G-sensor and magnetic sensor.

Unique feature
This handset comes with Smart stay option that makes use of the front camera to keep the screen active as long as you are viewing it. It is a good option if you are reading stuff and want to avoid the screen timing out and shutting off.

There is Auto Adjust screen tone option that will automatically adjust the tone based on the image that you are viewing to make the image livelier.

Another unique feature is the Multi Window option wherein you can run applications simultaneously within multiple windows. For example on half of the screen you can run the browser and on the other half you can chat with your friends via Google Talk or even view a movie.

Then there is the page buddy option that will fill the home screen with related pages that may be of interest to you.

OS, Memory and Storage
This handset sails on the Jelly Bean OS version – 4.1.2. The Grand comes with 1GB RAM and 8GB internal storage.

• Of the 1GB RAM you get around 517MB Free.
• Of the 8GB storage 3.9GB is allocated for apps (3.8GB available) and there is no other internal phone storage.
• You cannot install apps on external SD card.

Performance
The dual SIM (dual Standby) Galaxy Grand is powered by a 1.2GHz dual core (ARM Cortex A9) processor (Capri_SS_Baffin) with Broadcom VideoCore IV HW GPU. The performance is excellent and this hardware can easily play 1080p (full HD) videos.

Benchmark results

• Quadrant Benchmark: 3706.
• Antutu Benchmark: 7746.
• Nenamark 2:  58.9 fps.
• Linpack : Single 46, Multi 76.
• Multi Touch: 5 point, some users say 9, 10 points.

Connectivity
This is dual SIM handset with 3G support, there is built in Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, micro USB port and 3.5mm jack. USB tethering, Bluetooth tethering and Wi-Fi hotspot are supported.

Gaming
The handset is powerful and the benchmark scores are impressive, no doubt all games that can be played on MediaTek processor will easily run on the Grand.

8MP AF Camera
The camera quality is really good better than as seen on MediaTek processors. There is a 2MP front camera with video call support. This handset can record videos in 1080p resolution at 30fps. Check the sample video and sill image at the end of the article.

There is no continuous auto focus option so when shooting videos you will need to tap the screen to focus as required.

Battery
The battery is of 2100 mAh capacity, you will easily get over a day of backup time with moderate usage. There is the power saving option in settings which you can use to get more juice out of it.

Samsung Galaxy Grand review
A very good phone with lots of features but the price tag is way too high. At 21,500 this is not the phone that many users can afford. The Micromax A116 is yet to be released and it would be interesting to compare the performances. I am not sure if 1080p movies can be played on the A116.

I think the price of Grand should have been around 16,000 to 17,000 this would have made it an excellent buy, especially when compared (price wise) with quad core handsets that are yet to be launched. The weakest link on the Grand is the TFT screen with 800×480 pixels resolution. For this price Samsung should have added an AMOLED screen with Gorilla glass and a slightly higher resolution.

Image Gallery

Sample images shot using Galaxy Grand

Samsung Galaxy Grand unboxing and review video

1080p video shot using Galaxy Grand

1080p playback using MX player

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