Review – Samsung Galaxy Y : Cheapest Samsung Android Phone

Samsung keeps churning out smartphones as if there's no tomorrow, stuffing the channels with sometimes marginally different handsets six months after it introduced the previous crop.

The Samsung Galaxy Y is not an exception to this strategy – about half a year since the company launched something like the Samsung Galaxy Mini, for instance, it announced the Galaxy Y, which, according to the new naming scheme, should be an affordable handset for teens or emerging markets.

Some of its specs are marginally better than the Galaxy Mini, like a slightly faster processor and less weight, but the camera is 2MP, for example, against the Galaxy Mini's 3MP, while the screen resolution is the same (QVGA). The biggest improvement seems to be the Android OS version – we are running Gingerbread on the Galaxy Y, but this is not a huge advantage, as software can always be updated.

So does Samsung's fresh naming scheme an event enough to merit a new, largely unchanged, low-end Android entry from the manufacturer six months later, considering it's getting somewhat crowded down there? Read on the preview of our non-final unit to find out...

Specifications:

• OS: Android 2.3 Gingerbread
• Processor: 832 Mhz ARM v6 Processor
• RAM: 256 MB
• Memory: 160 MB internal memory, can be extended upto 32 GB
• Screen: 3″ TFT Capacitive Touch-Screen (240 x 320 pixels), TouchWiz UI
• Networks: GSM (850/900/1800/1900), 3G (HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps)
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP, microUSB 2.0 charging port,  3.5mm audio jack,
• GPS: A-GPS,
• Radio: Stereo FM
• Camera: 2 MP (1600 x 1200 pixels) Camera with GeoTagging, smile detection, QVGA 15 FPS video recording (No front camera)
• Weight: 97.5 Grams
• Dimensions: 104 x 58 x 11.5 mm
• Battery: 1200 mAh
• Misc: Built-in accelerometer, multi-touch input, proximity sensor, Swype text input, Office document viewer