Galaxy s duos - Gets the job done Nicely for me !!. Review on Samsung Galaxy S Duos S7562

Samsung Galaxy Duos is a really good, value for money android smart phone which comes with dual sim and a Brand name that is of the highest class. It’s one of the most popular models that is out there in the market and comes at an affordable price tag of 9700 INR. I bought the product 3 days ago and my first gut feeling is that – I’ve made the right choice opting this phone over several other rivals. What’s good about it..? What’s not so-good about it..? Let’s dissect each and every features of this Smartphone and find out the glittering stars and the barking dogs in this “Galaxy”..

Design, Build Quality and Display

Samsung have done a smart thing by making all their galaxy models almost identical. If you haven’t seen/used all their smart phone models then you will find it a bit tricky to differentiate phones like S duos, Quadro and Grand in the first sight itself. At first glance S duos looks and feels like the twin brother of Galaxy Grand. Both have a curved shape, both have silver strapping in the edge and both comes with a glossy/milky white color which is really pleasing on the eyes.  Galaxy S duos is a really well built smart phone with a likeable form factor which is both sturdy (I dropped it couple of times already and no damage was done) as well as easily portable. The display is very catchy on the eyes and the _ screen gives you enough space () to browse the web and watch movies on the go. Touch-screen works fine without any real lags hence making the phone a real winner in all three aspects.

Software, User Interface and Performance

Galaxy S duos comes with the very popular android operating system inbuilt. The user interface is far from rival’s like HTC sense etc but it definitely is up there with the best. The main reason I choose Android and especially S duos over a Windows phone like the Nokia Lumia 520 is because the former is more easy to use for a first-timer and the latter is not. To make it more clear, after testing S duos and its main rival Lumia 520 I found windows slightly more complicated than Android. First of all there’s no notification panel in windows and also there’s no toggles for Bluetooth/wifi etc compared to android not to mention the stupid omission of a system wide file manager. I know these are no big issues but if you are a first time smart phone user like me, you may find Windows OS slightly inconvenient to use. (Windows is a good OS but as of now it’s far from Android’s App ecosystem).

Performances wise there are a couple of things that are missing in S Duos compared to lumia 520 and there are couple of things that are evident in this phone as well. The Menu runs faster in Lumia 520 than in S duos and the web browsing is a bit choppy in 2g speeds in the latter -- all leading to S duos being a Single core processor and Lumia a dual core processor which runs a touch faster than the former. But providing the fact that you’re a first time user and you’re not spending too much -- it’s unlikely you’ll find a really huge noticeable difference between the two phones in terms of phone performance is concerned. I tried graphic demanding applications like “Temple run” in S Duos and for my liking it all worked butter smooth in this phone compared to Lumia 520’s slightly lagging gaming experience. If you’re a spec-addict then S duos’s 768mb ram evens out things more than a bit and if you’re not blasting the phone with one application after another then this phone will do a fine job without a shadow of a doubt. The real noticeable difference between Lumia and S duos for me is the fact that Android have more free applications compared to a new OS like Microsoft windows 8 which comes with a paid application platform. Downloading applications from Play store is kids stuff and Android’s ecosystem makes it a really convenient for first time users to get the synchronization exactly right. In Android you can easily download and install application “on the go” but in windows that’s not the case with limited number of apps. (You’ll have to download and again open it to install the same)

Camera, Music and Multimedia

Listening to Music in Samsung is nothing compared to Apple, Sony Ericsson or HTC Beats but it’s not bad or unlistenable either. In my opinion, it’s best to replace the chunk headphone which comes in-the-box with a quality pair of headphone like Boss or Senheisser which comes at a higher cost and doing that will definitely increase the quality of music and video experience in this phone. It’ll play almost all video formats butter smooth (DivX/Avi format is supported) and Samsung’s spacious display makes watching movies or YouTube a pleasing experience for multimedia buffs like me. As far as Camera is concerned -- I’ve always maintained a consistent opinion that no phone can replace your DSLR camera and that rings sarcastically true in this case as well. The pictures taken in S duos have poor color reproduction and the pixels makes it a slightly dull phone for photography lovers but Samsung have definitely compensated all that “hiccups” by adding a front facing camera and LED flash – the two important features which are eminently missing in Lumia 520.

Telephony, Phonebook, Messaging and Battery

The battery lasts 1-1 ½ days at moderate use in S duos’s 1500 MAH consumption power where as the Telephony is definitely way above the acceptable with few crackling sounds on the whole -- The weight and presence of a really clear & audible loudspeaker is an added advantage for a better basic functionality compared to other rival offerings. One minor disappointment was the fact that battery takes a ridiculous 3 hours to get charged which makes it slightly inconvenient for heavy users. Although What I was really impressed with and found really useful is the inbuilt blackberry-like touch keyboard which just works butter smooth both on Vertical as well as horizontal modes.

Final Words….

Samsung have come out with a damn good product for first time smart phone users at a price tag which is much, much affordable than any other phone at this range. Overall on the right side of things this phone performs decently well with dual sim capabilities and add that with Samsung’s brand value The Galaxy S duos is a clear winner in its own way. If you’re not that Brand conscious then I must admit a modest affection towards phones like Micromax Canvas 2 and Karbonn Titanium S1 which also comes at this price range with impressive set of features. If you don’t want dual sim then Nokia Lumia 520 is even harder to resist notwithstanding windows’s slightly complicated/cumbersome app ecosystem. I like HTC but I think most of their budget models are overpriced compared to these two giants.

So know your limitations, find out your requirements, do the research and make a really smart buy. So that’s it then, that’s a wrap on Samsung Galaxy S Duos review. It’s a really good smart phone which comes from a prestigious Mobile Phone Brand name like Samsung and trust my word this phone will not disappoint you especially if you’re a first time smart phone user. Honestly I’m a bit shocked to see a lot of negative reviews everywhere in the net and especially in MS, but people should also realize that there is nothing quite like a perfect smart phone and S Duos gets most of things quite right. Hoping to come out with another smart phone review soon enough this is Sreejith M P signing off, thank you very much for reading.