Jun 19, 2013 11:45 AM
6987 Views
My trusty Nokia E series was very reliable and good enough for me since years. However it was getting long in the tooth and I decided to 'upgrade' to an Android device which meant by default a Samsung! Not willing to splurge upwards of 35 K on a Sammy S- series or Note I was waiting and watching when I saw this offer - 21K less 5% cashback and 0% EMI - and with a more than reasonable exchange price for my Nokia- it was a done deal!.
Overall I would rate 4.5 / 5 for this phone - i've been using it since a month now.
Pros -
- Andriod Jelly Bean OS which says a lot -considering the available App store apps / features.
-Size : A true phablet with a 5 inch screen - I detest lugging around a 7" + tab and find it difficult to peer at sub 5 Inch screens- what with my constant use of mails/documents/web etc. The I9082 is bigger than S3/S4.
-Decent enough screen - To those who shout at the roof top -No AMOLED /no LED etc. you get what you pay for- If you are willing to spend 40 K for a AMOLED device which is obsolete in six months- you are welcome!
-Battery life - I am a power user in that I constantly check corporate/personal mails, make calls, chat / browse throughout the day - at home /office / on the go while driving - and even use this devise for online net meetings - and I can go for 1 1/2 days without a recharge-which says a lot as the average 'life' of a similar phone would be about 8 hrs. The secret of course is to disable unwanted services/ apps like Wifi / BT whenever possible. Avoid 'task killers'
Speed : True multi -tasking- quite fast and hardly experience any lags.
Call quality : Excellent cell signal/reception/voice clarity.
Dual SIM - I have optimized use as I use SIM1 for only telephone calls / SMS and SIM2 from another provider exclusively for 3G Mobile internet data connection when I'm not connected to a WiFi network.
-Expandable memory - upto 32 GB Micro SD card can be installed.
- Replaceable Battery - Very desirable feature in case you need to change your battery.
- Freebie : Very useful flip cover provided. This itself is worth Rs.1, 5 K in the market.
- FM / BT / Wifi : Standard features like RDS FM/ video player/ BT Hands free
-Mobile Hotspot / tethering option - you can use the phone as a wifi hotspot so that you can connect your laptop to the mobile to use the Mobile 3G network thru Wifi or Bluetooth. quiet fast and also easy to setup.
Cons :
-Storage : Limited storage to install apps The system storage available is only 4Gb - (4 Gb out of installed 8Gb is used by the system itself) - Apps have to be installed in the system storage only and cannot be installed in the external storage SD Card. This limits the no of applications you can actually install.
-No LED flash notification light. Quite strange that this feature is not available in this phone. Cost cutting? LED flash is very useful to get notifications of incoming / missed calls/mails/SMS.
-Out of Memory : Memory often maxes out. With an available RAM of 800 Mb quite often the free RAM comes down to 50-100 Mb and makes the phone sluggish. Solution is to clear memory (available utility)/close all apps - and sometimes (like once in a week) need to restart the phone.
-Connect to PC : Cannot connect phone to PC using USB as a Mass Storage Device (MSC mode)- this is a very useful and required feature to manage files folder as the phone would appear as an additional drive in the PC when connected. However this is a limitation of Android Jelly Bean rather than Samsung. This can be 'resolved' by rooting the phone which voids the warranty and also can brick your phone. So live without this feature. You can only connect in MTP (camera mode) or through Kies.
-Kies - This software to mange the phone through PC is a load of bulls^^t. True bloatware. Samsung needs to follow the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid)
-Scratch prone body - within a week the back of my phone showed up a lot of scratches, While we do not want a heavy Aluminum Casing- at least a scratch proof plastic / carbonate material is desirable.
I will not go into the standard pros/cons / features of an Android phone as that is a different subject, and to those who crib - this doesn't work, that is not there, how to do this etc. - my advice - RTFM (Read The Freaking Manual) - There are lots and lots of things you can learn from a decent book like Android for Dummies etc.
To sum I'm - yes i'm glad I ditched my Nokia for this Grand phone. (By the way - it definitely beats iPhone hands down feature wise / ease of use wise - I know 'cos my wife has an iPhone)
