Samsung Galaxy Chat Review

 Best Touch-n-Type ANDROID Phone

 My ratings: 3.5/5

Recently I have purchased Samsung Galaxy Y Pro Duos (GYPD) and the main reason for choosing that phone was its dual SIM feature. Samsung has launched a new mobile in place of that, with better features but single SIM. I got a chance to use newly launched Samsung Galaxy Chat for few days and I am sharing my experience here.

Samsung Galaxy Chat is unique mobile for its feature and price range. There is no Android ICS enabled mobile with touch and type feature at this price.

This phone has 3-inch display with a resolution of 240x320 pixels, and comes with a physical QWERTY keypad . It is equipped with Android ICS (4.0) that is upgradable to Jelly Bean (Android 4.1); 850 MHz processor with 512MB of RAM . It is powered with 1200mAh battery and available in black and white colours.

It has 4 GB inbuilt memory space as mentioned on the specifications and can be expanded to 32 GB using a micro SD card. Half of the internal memory is occupied by operating system and other apps already installed.  

The form factor is really amazing and it is pleasure holding it in hand. It is comparatively lightweight and fits properly in palm . I have not seen any other touch and type phone of this large touchscreen and beautiful QWERTY keypad. It has 3inch multi-touch capacitive touchscreen which is similar to Galaxy Y, Nokia Asha 311 and Sony Xperia Tipo. The resolution and pixel density of phone is very poor and it’s really a big task to read something on this phone. For other purposes one may not even notice its low resolution.

The phone design is very much similar to GYPD and has similar positioning of volume up/ down key on left side and power key on right side. There is 3.5mm audio connector jack at top and micro USB charging-cum-connecting post at the bottom. The four Android keys are just below the screen and are feather touch that is different than GYPD.

The keypad of this phone is similar to all the previous QWERTY phones of Samsung but the keys of this handset are comparatively small to maintain the form factor. It has a dedicated key for ‘Samsung Chat On messenger’ and for me it is a totally useless as I have never used that messenger.  There is no trackpad provided in this phone so scrolling is to be done solely using touchscreen. There is provision for on-screen keyboard that can be used in horizontal and portrait mode.

There is 2MP camera and is great letdown of this phone . There is no LED and auto focus options provided. There should be minimum 3MP at this price range. One more ironic thing is that there is no front camera which is very much required for a smartphone.

The notification panel is equipped with many shortcuts against the five provided in GYPD. Even the brightness can be set from that notification panel.

For connectivity it has a 3G, Bluetooth 3.0, USB for mass storage and PC connection, GPS and Wi-Fi that can even be used as hotspot to use mobile internet over PC .

There is nothing worth mentioning for music player. It serves the basic purpose. Inbuilt video player can easily play MP4 videos. For other formats you may have to download third party app. The sound quality is loud and clear. Signal reception is good. I am facing a problem in my GYPD that the voice is not very clear while on call . I have faced the same problem in this set also. It is not alarming but a problem worth noticing.

The 1200mAh battery easily lasts for a day on normal usage and 6-7 hours on Wi-Fi. There is no complaint regarding its battery performance that is much better than other Android phones.

Positives
1. Very stylish looks and lightweight.
2. Android 4.0, upgradable to Android 4.1 .
3. Decent screen size of 3inch.
4. 4GB internal memory, almost 2GB free to use.
5. Quick responsive touchscreen.
6. 32GB external memory support.
7. Physical keys are small but comfortable to type.

Negatives
1. Poor camera, just 2 MP.
2. Less RAM, results in sluggish performance .
3. Low screen resolution.
4. Glossy back cover attracts fingerprints and smudges.
5. No dedicated camera button.
6. No secondary front camera.
7. Not compatible with many apps due to its low resolution screen.

Advices
1. Make it a habit to turn off 3G and GPS when not in use.
2. Keep closing unused applications through ‘Manage application’ in settings to save battery power.
3. It is better to use pattern lock for screen locking as the odd positioning of ‘power off/ unlock’ key may unlock the phone while in pocket.
4. It is advisable to uninstall preinstalled app s that are not useful, so as to optimise the available space.
5. Install a third party app for better browsing experience . Opera Mini is better as it will save data cost also.

Recommendations
1. Recommended for people who are fond of messaging and chatting.
2. Not recommended for heavy gamers, ok for those who casually play games.
3. It is good option for those who want touch and type mobile phones as there are no better option in any price range (except Blackberry).

It is an average handset with stylish looks and cute QWERTY keypad . The phone is available at very reasonable price of Rs.8000 (approx.) at online stores . It is a steal for these many features at this price. There is no other mobile of reputed brand having all these features in market nowadays. This mobile is solely for not-so-heavy users who are comfortable with physical keys. The best part is that this mobile is worth the price paid.

MY RATINGS FOR THIS PHONE: 3.5/5

Casio Edifice EFA-120L Review

All purpose. One watch.

My ratings: 3/5

I was passing my time on Hyderabad airport when I first noticed this watch- CASIO EDIFICE ANALOG DIGITAL EFA-120L-1A-1V . There was something in this watch that I got attracted towards it, I think it was its simple and sober look and few important features.

Looks & Design

The watch is analog and digital watch with exciting features. The dial of the watch is rectangular in shape and made up of stainless steel. There is a spherical hard glass (resistive to normal scratches) attached to the dial. This dial is attached to black colored tough leather straps . The strap is uniformly pinned on its body that improves its gracefulness and it is bordered with a red colored stitching.
The inner side of dial is black in color with two small sized overlapping chronographs on one side. There are two luminous hands for pointing hours and minutes. ‘CASIO EDIFICE’ is written on top in white in two lines. It is to be noted that working area of dial is round shaped and remaining area is adorned with 12 steel pointers for hours.
The dial displays date (in MM-DD format) and day (two letters) on top, time (in HH:MM SS format) on bottom and temperature in middle.


There are total five push buttons in the watch - three on right and two on left.
The back side of the dial is engraved with the brand name, model number and few important features. The names/ functions of all the five push buttons are also engraved near below the respective buttons.

Specifications

Daily alarm
Hourly time signal
Auto-calendar (to year 2099)
12/24-hour format
30 time zones (50 cities)
100-meter water resistance
1/100-second stopwatches (two in numbers)
Dual Chronograph for separate timing operations by two stopwatches
50 lap time memories
Countdown timer (1 minute to 100 hours)
Accuracy: ±30 seconds per month
Temperature display range: -10 to 60 °C (14 to 140 °F)
Approx. battery life: 3 years
Size of case: 43.9 X 38.3 X 12.9 mm
Total weight: 64 g

Features

The watch can be operated in 7 different modes (Timekeeping, Stopwatch, Recall, Countdown timer, Alarm, World time & Handsetting) to access the various features and functionalities of the watch. The default mode is timekeeping mode that displays basic information such as time, date and temperature.

Electro-luminescent panel -  The dial of the watch can be illuminated using a dedicated push-button. This feature can be set to auto mode that will turn on the light when the watch is moved closer to the face in a particular angle. The auto-feature has to be used cautiously as while driving the sudden illumination may panic you.

World Time - The watch can display current time in 50 major cities (30 time zones) of the world. Just by a press of button, time zone can be changed as per the choice.

Stopwatch - The measuring unit of stopwatch is 1/100 second for the first 60 minutes and 1 second for the display after 60 minutes. There are two measuring modes- Single stopwatch mode that displays lap times & total elapsed time for a single runner or vehicle; and Dual stopwatch mode that displays two independent lap time &  lap time differential.  The watch is even equipped to memorize 50 lap times & total elapsed time entries.

Countdown timer - The countdown can be set from 1 minute to 100 hours . There are 1-min and 1-hr increments provided to set the time. The measuring unit is 1-sec. The timer also has a feature of auto repeating.  

Timekeeping - The time can be displayed in 12-hour or 24-hour format. If the time is set in 12-hour format, a small ‘A’ or ‘P’ is displayed with time to symbolize AM or PM. There are also two needles for analog timekeeping. The company assures accuracy of ±30 seconds per month.  The watch is set for auto-calendar feature till 2099 so there is no need to setting time when there is a leap year.
There are two options in time displays- standard time & daylight saving time . Daylight saving time advances the time by one hour. This feature is not useful for India but can be used in many other countries.

Temperature measurement - There is in built temperature sensor in the watch and the temperature can be set to display in degrees (D) or Fahrenheit (F). The display range varies from -10 to 60 °C (14 to 140 °F) and the display unit is 0.1 °C (0.2 °F). The temperature is updated during each even-numbered minute .  When the watch is in wrist, the temperature displayed gets affected by body temperature, moisture and direct sunlight. To get the exact surrounding temperature, the watch has to be removed from the wrist and placed in a place away from sunlight and moisture. It will take 20 to 30 minutes for the exact surrounding temperature.

Alarm - Two types of alarms can be set on the watch- daily alarm and hourly alarm . The watch beeps at the set time; the beep is loud enough to alarm you but it cannot wake you up if you are sleeping or moving in a noisy area.

Battery - As per the company specification, the battery will last for 3 years that is sufficient enough.

Water resistance - The water resistance of the watch is mentioned in two units- 100m and 10bars . The "BAR" value indicates the number of atmospheres to which water resistance is ensured that means it is wearable during swimming, washing etc.,  but not during high board diving and surfing.

Positives

1. Very sturdy and robust look
2. Scratch resistive metal glass
3. Simple and sober
4. Dual watch (analog & digital), that is quite unique

Negatives

1. Costly, when considering looks and features
2. Digital display is not visible in bright light
3. Temperature sensor shows a mix of body temperature, direct sunlight & moisture
4. Very heavy in weight even though there is no metallic chain
5. Push buttons are very hard to push

Bottom line

First of all I would like to mention the price of this watch. The MRP of the watch is Rs.5995 and you can get it at a discount of 10% from many stores.  The looks are very ordinary when compared to price, so don’t expect turning heads. The looks are comparable to the watches of the range of Rs.2000.
The watch has many useful features that can be used in daily routines. It depends on the user that how could s/he use it impressively.

I would recommend this watch to office goers who like formal accessories. This is not at all for youths or funky peoples.

Samsung Galaxy Y Pro Duos review

Basic ANDROID for basic users

(This review got First Prize of Rs.10,000 in 'Mouthshut.com Review contest'  Click here for details )

My ratings: 3/5

I am back with another review of a gadget I possessed recently.  Till now I have used Java, Symbian, iOS, BADA, Windows and thus I was eagerly waiting to acquire an Android phone. I want to solve many purposes with this phone, so I started my quest for a dual-SIM Android phone with QWERTY keypad . There were not many options in reputed brands so I finally zeroed upon Samsung Galaxy Y Pro Duos.

Basic Specifications

GPRS, Edge, GPS, 3G connectivity
Android 2.3 OS
800 MHz processor, 512 MB RAM; 150 MB internal memory
2.6-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen (320 x 240 pixels)
3.2MP rear camera, VGA front camera
Touch and type, Dual SIM functionality
1350 mAh battery

Features of the phone

The phone is a bar shaped with QWERTY keypad, trackpad and four Android buttons . The rear of the phone looks metallic with smooth finish. The volume key is on the left and power/lock button are on the right. The 3.5mm jack is on top and mini USB port is provided at bottom for charging and connectivity.
The display is a 2.6 inch unit with 320 x 240 pixels . Due to low resolution individual pixels are visible.
Due to small screen and horizontal layout the basic menu, call, contacts and messages are placed vertically in a bar and remains there in all the three home pages.
The keypad is nicely designed and is quite comfortable to work with. The trackpad and the Android buttons are placed just above the keypad. The only drawback is that these buttons are not backlit like the rest of the keypad.
The phone has 3.15 megapixel camera without LED flash and VGA camera at front for video calling. The camera has features like smile shot, panorama mode and all the other basic features.
The images can be shared direct from gallery to all the applications such as Facebook, Bluetooth, messaging, mail etc.
The dual SIM can easily be maintained with a dedicated button.
The music player is very simple and easy to use. Songs can be sorted as per artists, albums and playlist.
The inbuilt browser works well but pinch-to-zoom feature is really missed. Even the volume keys cannot be used for zooming the pages. The screen doesn’t support multi-touch so we have to rely on onscreen zoom to navigate.
Though it is provided with 832 MHz processor but multitasking slows down this phone.
The pull-down notification screen can be used to on/off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, Silent mode, auto rotation and can even be used to switch between the two SIMs.
The phone can be used as a modem via USB tethering and even via Wi-Fi that is very useful if you want to use the mobile connection on your computer.
The data on the mobile can be synced with various accounts such as Facebook, Gmail etc.

Pros   

1. Very reasonable pricing considering the features of the phone.
2. Very responsive touch screen . I am using iPhone in parallel and still very comfortable with the touchscreen of this phone.
3. Music player is very nice.
4. QWERTY keypad is very comfortable to type.
5. Internet browsing speed is good and comparable with high end phones. Works quite well with Wi-Fi.
6. Optical trackpad is an additional feature and is very sensitive.
7. SIM card manager works well and there is a dedicated key for switching between the two SIMs.

Cons

1. Ordinary looks , not at all comparable to mid-range or high end phones.
2. Very low internal memory and you may face problems if you want to install more and more applications from Google Play.  
3. Sometimes the phone responds very slowly for no known reasons.
4. Low screen resolution.
5. No multi touch and hence no pinch to zoom feature.
6. Battery drains at super quick speed. If you are using GPS or Wi-Fi, the battery will hardly run for half day.
7. No flash for the camera.
8. There is no hardware key for the camera or contacts list.
9. Not good at multitasking.

Problems faced

1. Memory card scanning would happen on its own whenever I try to switch on the mobile and is very time consuming.
2. There is no option for delaying the automatic screen lock. The screen locks in a blink and I have to go through cumbersome process of unlocking it again.
3. There is no separate draft folder in messaging . So if a message is unsent for any reason, it will keep stuck in conversation that is very annoying.
4. There is no physical button for making or receiving calls . The calls are received using swipe feature that is not very responsive (sometimes).
5. Loudness is not upto the mark and there are times when I had missed calls due to it. Sound quality is clear but not loud.
6. There is no backlight in the four Android keys (Menu, Home, Return and Search) so I have to struggle in dark to find out the right key (though icons are embossed on the keys).
7. There is no direct keypad to dial a number . I have to go to ‘Call’ option and from there I have to select ‘keypad’. If a number is dialled directly from the homepage, it goes to Google search.
8. The ‘Unlock screen/ Power off’ button is provided at the right side of the phone instead of top as it is used to be placed in all other phones. The button gets pressed whenever the phone is in my trousers pocket and any app may start functioning then. It was very disturbing and finally I find a solution and started using pattern lock.
9. PC suite for this mobile- Samsung Kies is not very user friendly. It nowhere stands close to Nokia Suite or iTunes.
10. There is very limited internal memory of 160MB. There are many apps that cannot be moved to SD card so left with no option but be choosy while downloading applications.
11. Most of the apps don’t work properly because of the horizontal alignment of the screen. It is very irritating to work on this phone holding it horizontally.
12. The moment I get a call on any of the SIM, the data service stops and will start again once the call is ended on the active SIM.

Recommendations

1. Recommended for Android lovers who are uncomfortable with full touch features . As it provides keypad, optical trackpad with touchscreen.
2. Recommended for people who want their first android phone with low budget and moderate performance requirements.
3. Go for it if you want a dual-SIM phone with QWERTY keypad and Android OS.

Don’t buy if

1. You have used or using high end smartphones.
2. You want an Android phone for gaming purpose.
3. You are fond of taking pictures through your camera phones .
4. Your fingers are big as you may not be able to use the touch features properly, considering the small touchscreen.

Verdict

This phone is a very basic Android phone running Gingerbread while ICS is running on all the new devices . It seems that Samsung is in no mood to upgrade it to ICS or any other higher version. It has very fixed target buyers like me who want dual-SIM, QWERTY and Android in one phone. If you are searching for all these features, this phone is for you as there is no other phone in market with all these features and in this price range. Despite all the problems mentioned above, I am quite satisfied with this phone.

It is available for Rs.8500 in many online stores and can be bargained for Rs.8000 or less at any store near you.