Samsung Galaxy Pocket

Android is a very supple mobile operating system that is able of powering phones from all kinds of categories – from powerful specs-monsters like the Galaxy S II and Xperia S, to entry-level lightweight solutions like the Galaxy mini and Optimus Me. Recently, the said access-level smartphones have become so reasonable, that they have even started eating into the feature handset market.

One of those enormously affordable feature phone solutions that is probable to hit the market fairly soon is the Samsung Galaxy Pocket. This handset is positioned even lower than the Galaxy mini 2 in the Android food-chain. It's almost certainly the most basic Android handset that you'll be able to get.

We are paying attention in finding out if the Galaxy Pocket is capable of carrying out all the tasks that we've come to wait for from a mainstream Android device, although its less than average specs.

Design:

The design of the Samsung Galaxy Pocket is your typical Samsung affair. The handset has a Galaxy S-que appear to it, but is way smaller. It's constructed out of plastic, and has a moderately light weight.

The Galaxy Pocket is surely not a looker, especially compared to some other budget Android offerings like the Xperia X8, for example. However, it doesn't hurt our eyes too much either.

If you have really long hands, you can in fact make a Retina Display out of the 2.8” QVGA (320x240) screen by holding it as far as you can from your eyes. unluckily this will also make things to small to see, so doing it is not an option, and you have to put up with the realities of this 143 ppi display. Actually, this is one of the main downfalls of the Galaxy Pocket. To anyone who might believe buying this handset – keep in mind that this screen is U-G-L-Y. Of path, this is what makes having such a low-priced Android smartphone possible, buy if you plan to use it a lot for more higher stuff like web browsing and gaming, better go for a phone that has at least HVGA (320x480) resolution.

Interface and Functionality:

You won't find ICS successively the show with the Galaxy Pocket, as an alternative you'll enjoy Gingerbread, skinned with TouchWiz. All of the software features that you'd expect from an Android smartphone are here: widgets, multiple home screens, YouTube, the Google Play store for applications, etc.

The handset will run most apps, including some simpler games such as Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja. However, due to the extremely low resolution, games and apps that feature very little graphical elements (like the birds and pigs in Angry Birds, for example) aren't at ease to use at all (let alone fun), and we wouldn't be surprised if you simply avoid running those apps.

The slanting of the screen is only 2.8”, but the typing experience with the on-screen QWERTY keyboard of the Pocket is pretty decent, both in portrait and landscape. However, if you have comparatively big fingers, or want to be able to type really fast, this phone won't be very suitable for the purpose.

Luckily, the Samsung Galaxy Pocket comes with all standard connectivity options such as Wi-Fi, 3G and Bluetooth. This means that you'll be able to browse the web (and use web services) without paying for mobile data, everywhere a Wi-Fi Hotspot is available. Still, you should keep in mind that the handset's low-resolution screen is making everything very difficult to read. It will get the job done, but it will be painful and tiring for your eyes. The Galaxy Pocket doesn't maintain Flash content, but the browser compensates with an adequate response.

We can't really talk about the quality of the 2-megapixel camera of the Pocket, since this is a prototype unit we're dealing with. In any case, you shouldn't expect wonders from this really basic 2MP snapper.Video is recorded at a maximum resolution of 320x240 at 15 FPS and seems usable. Check the following test samples out to get an idea of what you should suppose from the Galaxy Pocket's camera.