Samsung pioneered the phablet concept with the original Galaxy Note. It
was an unexpected success as most in the tech media scoffed at the
ludicrous form-factor, but Samsung knew better and it turned out to be
one hell of a home run. Of course, the Note and its successor the Note
II were geared at the top end of the market and many local vendors have
started emulating Samsung’s product at much lesser price points, so it
was obvious Samsung had to respond in kind. Its answer is the Galaxy
Grand. It achieves a sort of middle ground between the Galaxy S III and
the Galaxy Note II at 5-inches, but hits a price point that’s much more
tenable to the average consumer by dropping a few features but still
maintaining Samsung’s software features. Things are not easy for Samsung
because its lesser-known rivals are becoming nimbler and offering
products that are technically superior hardware wise, so the Galaxy
Grand is an odd-ball, but is it worth the trouble? Read on to find out
more.
Design
The Galaxy Grand is a typical Samsung device, using the same design language that Samsung introduced with the Galaxy S III and has refined it for the 5-inch form factor. This way the device looks like a hybrid between the Galaxy S III and the Galaxy Note II. Of course, the glossy hyperglaze plastic build is still in play and the sides are tapered with a chrome colored plastic finish. Like most Samsung smartphones the Galaxy Grand is very thin at 9.6mm and weighs only 162 grams. There are no surprises here.
Once we managed to peel off the back cover, we found the 2,100-mAh battery, dual-SIM slots and the microSD card slot. Overall, the Galaxy Grand is everything one expects of a Samsung device, glossy plasticky, big, and yet sturdy. Groundbreaking is one thing it is not.
HARDWARE
The Galaxy Grand is decidedly a mid-range rocker. In fact, it is actually in a way a refurbished Galaxy S II with a larger display. Why? Because minus the 5-inch WVGA display, it retains the same dual-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz, the same 8-megapixel camera and all this is tied with 1GB of RAM. As far as the memory is concerned it has 8GB of internal memory, which can be expanded via a microSD card slot.
SOFTWARE
While it runs on Android 4.1, Samsung TouchWiz experiences like S-Note, Multi-view, Smart Stay and ChatOn messenger are all present. Additionally, nifty modifications in the contacts UI allow users to swipe left or right to choose either to call or message a contact. Another advantage of TouchWiz is the camera UI, which is simple yet offers the users a number of settings to tweak.
PERFORMANCE
While the Galaxy Grand may not deliver jaw-dropping performance of say the upcoming Galaxy S 4, but it is no slouch. People who think that the quad-core chip on Canvas HD is superior to the dual-core chip on the Galaxy Grand are very mistaken. The SoC on the Galaxy Grand is based on a higher performance ARM Cortex A9 architecture, while the quad-core chipset on the Canvas HD is based on a more frugal ARM Cortex A7 architecture.Perhaps the biggest selling point of the Galaxy Grand should be its battery life as it coasted through the day without breaking a sweat. Its battery life was much better than the Micromax Canvas HD
even though
both have similar sized batteries. We ran a loop of Batman Begins at
720p resolution and it lasted about 6 hours. For more basic testing we
just used the device as our daily driver and we used the device to text,
make calls, browse the web, play games and click pictures and the
device handily lasted the day on a single charge. Mind you this was much
better than the Galaxy S III and the Micromax Canvas HD.
VERDICT
Samsung has good after sales, it delivers Android updates faster than most OEMs, it has great battery life and its software features are definitely differentiators. If it’s the hardware one is after then the Galaxy Grand is not meant for you, then you’ll better off buying the Micromax Canvas HD which costs Rs 14,990, which Rs 6,500 more cheaper than the Galaxy Grand which is priced at a not so cheap Rs 21,500.
Design
The Galaxy Grand is a typical Samsung device, using the same design language that Samsung introduced with the Galaxy S III and has refined it for the 5-inch form factor. This way the device looks like a hybrid between the Galaxy S III and the Galaxy Note II. Of course, the glossy hyperglaze plastic build is still in play and the sides are tapered with a chrome colored plastic finish. Like most Samsung smartphones the Galaxy Grand is very thin at 9.6mm and weighs only 162 grams. There are no surprises here.
Once we managed to peel off the back cover, we found the 2,100-mAh battery, dual-SIM slots and the microSD card slot. Overall, the Galaxy Grand is everything one expects of a Samsung device, glossy plasticky, big, and yet sturdy. Groundbreaking is one thing it is not.
HARDWARE
The Galaxy Grand is decidedly a mid-range rocker. In fact, it is actually in a way a refurbished Galaxy S II with a larger display. Why? Because minus the 5-inch WVGA display, it retains the same dual-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz, the same 8-megapixel camera and all this is tied with 1GB of RAM. As far as the memory is concerned it has 8GB of internal memory, which can be expanded via a microSD card slot.
SOFTWARE
While it runs on Android 4.1, Samsung TouchWiz experiences like S-Note, Multi-view, Smart Stay and ChatOn messenger are all present. Additionally, nifty modifications in the contacts UI allow users to swipe left or right to choose either to call or message a contact. Another advantage of TouchWiz is the camera UI, which is simple yet offers the users a number of settings to tweak.
While the Galaxy Grand may not deliver jaw-dropping performance of say the upcoming Galaxy S 4, but it is no slouch. People who think that the quad-core chip on Canvas HD is superior to the dual-core chip on the Galaxy Grand are very mistaken. The SoC on the Galaxy Grand is based on a higher performance ARM Cortex A9 architecture, while the quad-core chipset on the Canvas HD is based on a more frugal ARM Cortex A7 architecture.Perhaps the biggest selling point of the Galaxy Grand should be its battery life as it coasted through the day without breaking a sweat. Its battery life was much better than the Micromax Canvas HD
Samsung has good after sales, it delivers Android updates faster than most OEMs, it has great battery life and its software features are definitely differentiators. If it’s the hardware one is after then the Galaxy Grand is not meant for you, then you’ll better off buying the Micromax Canvas HD which costs Rs 14,990, which Rs 6,500 more cheaper than the Galaxy Grand which is priced at a not so cheap Rs 21,500.
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