Samsung have been busy recently, announcing a range of new handsets, including a few running on the increasingly popular Android platform. The first of the new handsets we are going to be looking at in more detail is the Samsung i5800 Galaxy 3.
With the smartphone market becoming ever more populated and ever more a crowded scene, handsets need to either offer something unique to catch the eye, or to offer a solid spec list and reliable performance, and it is is reliable and solid that tend to define best the Samsung devices.
The i5800 Galaxy 3 is fairly light, weighing in at just 110g, and measures in at 114 x 55 x 13mm. The handset boasts a 3.2 inch TFT capacitive touchscreen, supporting up to 16 million colours, and has a 240 x 400 pixel resolution. An accelerometer is included for auto rotation, and there is also a proximity sensor which disables the display when making a call. The display is also set up for multi touch input.
The style of the i5800 is a standard monoblock device, with a nice feel in the hand thanks to the curved edges. The back of the phone is smooth and curved, and apart from manufacturer and network branding, the only thing on the back of the device is the camera. The volume keys are located down the left hand side of the phone, whilst under the main display we find the main menu navigation key, flanked by the menu key on one side and the back key on the other.
The screen of the handset is bright and responsive, and the i5800 comes with Android OS 2.1 as standard. There are multiple connection options available on the phone, with HSDPA at up to 3.6 Mbps, as well as WiFi 802.11 b/g/n included. The handset is a quad band GSM phone, and includes Class 10 GPRS and EDGE for data connections when outside 3G coverage, and with no WiFi hotspot nearby. The Galaxy 3 also includes Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP support. Bluetooth 3.0 is currently the most recent version of Bluetooth available, and as well as offering all the benefits of previous versions, the main benefit delivered is a faster data transfer rate.
The Galaxy 3 sports a 3.2 Megapixel camera, with autofocus, as well as face detection, geotagging and a motion detection sensor, too. The device is enabled for video recording, capturing clips at QVGA resolution, up to 15 fps, which is good enough for uploading and sharing with friends online, but there is no front facing camera, so no option for face to face video calls.
Media is well covered on the phone; firstly the included media player handles a wide variety of options for audio and video, including DivX for video clips, as well as MP4 and WMV, as well as MP3, AAC and eAAC+ for music. There is a 3.5mm audio jack, plus a stereo FM radio with RDS, as well as support for the Samsung DNSe (Digital Noise Sound engine) which delivers a superior audio playback experience. There is plenty of storage space available for all the media types on the phone, with an internal capacity of 170 MB, with memory expansion supported via Micro SD memory cards, with the Galaxy 3 officially supporting cards up to 32 GB in size.
The i5800 includes a GPS receiver, with aGPS support, and there is also a digital compass built in, for use with Google Maps. The usual suite of Google services are included on the phone, such as Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Talk, etc, and of course the Android Market is packed with apps to help you get more from your phone.
The Samsung i5800 Galaxy 3 ticks all the right boxes. In use the device seems fast and responsive, it has a solid feel and gives the impression of a reliable, dependable product. Pretty much par with what we expect from a Samsung smartphone these days.
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5:24 pm
Simply fantastic, the best phone I have ever had. I just got my Samsung i5800 Galaxy 3 Apollo 2 days ago (1/4/11) and it is fantastic. Although it is at the lower end of samsungs galaxy range of handsets and prices starting at around £79.95 at Carphone Warehouse where I purchased my Galaxy from on 02 Pay & Go. It feels like a top end handset with googles android 2.1 version installed. Functionallity is brilliant and the phone is easy to use with no problems it also boasts fantastic multimedia options too. Handset Rating: 9.5/10.
12:16 pm
It's even better if you install 2.2 on it. You have to do a little bit of trickery to install 2.2 on it, but it's well worth it. It's much faster than 2.1 and has more features (my favourite - the Mobile AP feature which allows you to use your phone as a wireless router).