Samsung Grand Duos smartphone: specifications and reviews

December 18, 2013, Samsung announced the release of the smartphone Galaxy Grand, which is now available in two different colors and options. One option is the Samsung Grand Duos - a device designed for 2 sim cards. The gadget is available for sale in blue and white.

This model can be largely considered as a reduced version of the Galaxy Note II or as an enhanced version of the Galaxy SIII, depending on your point of view. If you are used to the Note II model, it will be very convenient for you to hold the Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime Duos in your hands. This smartphone is not only smaller in size, but also slightly thinner. The device feels quite durable to the touch, and its back surface has a textured background, like in the Galaxy S4.

On the front panel of the device you can see the front camera, sensors, external speakers and, of course, a screen measuring 5.0 inches. Since the speakers are located on the left side of the device, the volume switches are on the right. On the top of the smartphone is a headset jack. The developers in this model did not move the charging points of MicroUSB from the bottom of the device, so their location is exactly the same as in the Galaxy SII.

On the back of the smartphone is a LED flashlight, speaker and camera 8 megapixel. The body is made entirely of plastic. This should not be a real problem when using the phone, since Samsung uses a very durable plastic. However, this material does not give the device a "luxurious" look.

Interface

The Samsung Grand Duos uses its own interface from Samsung Nature UX. It can also be found on smartphones Galaxy SIII and Galaxy Note II, for example. But because of their own system requirements, developers had to simplify it somewhat in order to ensure its trouble-free work on the Galaxy Grand. This means that not all progressive features are available on this device.

However, many useful options are still present. One of them is SmartStay, which allows you to detect whether you are using the device or not at the moment, and also monitors the front camera. This way the screen can switch faster. The function also ensures that the screen does not turn off unexpectedly due to a timeout when the application is open.

Another good feature of the smartphone is the multi-window. Since the screen of the device is quite large, it is equipped with the Multi-Window option, which makes it possible to open two windows on the screen at the same time. This is very convenient if you like multitasking.

However, not all applications are included in this model by default.

As noted earlier, the Samsung Grand Duos has a 5.0 "screen, the resolution of which is 480 × 800 pixels.This causes some icons to appear unnecessarily large, which can be somewhat annoying, especially with unaccustomed use.The interface that is used on the Galaxy Grand Duos, by default Assumes the desktop has a menu and widgets that can change the size and width and height.

Simultaneous use of SIM cards has some drawbacks. For example, when switching from one card to another on the screen, this is not fixed. Thus, you can immediately not notice which "simka" is active at the moment.

There is a separate item in the settings menu to control the Dual-SIM option. Thus, the user can choose which SIM card to use to connect to the Internet and to make phone calls. In addition, you can temporarily turn off one SIM card or turn both cards on simultaneously.

While navigating through the interface, it can be noted that the device works very well when viewing the menu.

Screen

The resolution is quite low, the number of pixels per inch (PPI) is also slightly lower than usual - only 187. Compared to the Galaxy S4 (the same screen size) that has a PPI 441, the difference is obvious - more than twice! Nevertheless, the screen looks pretty good, and the price of the device is much lower. Colors are displayed very naturally, except for the shades of black. This may seem like a problem when watching a video (like YouTube), especially if you are used to an AMOLED screen.

Camera

Developers from Samsung use in this model a rear camera of 8 megapixels, as well as a front 2-megapixel camera. The rear 8 megapixel device can create great pictures with a maximum resolution of 3264 × of 2448 pixels. Samsung Grand Duos can also perform Full HD video shooting.

Most people do not use the front camera in everyday life, as video calls on the smartphone are not very popular. Nevertheless, it is very good and has a number of useful functions, for example, SmartStay.

The rear camera can shoot in several modes. One of these modes is with brightness adjustments. Some different landscape modes are also available. In addition, you can perform panoramic shooting. For panoramic images, the maximum angle of the picture is 180 degrees.

Battery

Developers used an excellent battery in the Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime Duos. The capacity of this battery is 2100 mAH - this is enough to guarantee a whole day of intensive use of this device. At average intensity of using the smartphone, the battery can work for 1 to 3 days. With very intensive use of the device this time will be about 1 full day. In standby mode, the device works for 2 to 3 weeks.

Call interface

Samsung Grand Primeve Duos has no problems with reception even in areas with poor coverage of the network. The sound in the speakers is heard clearly and quite loudly.

Smart dialing is available whenever you press a specific number for a specific contact. The disadvantage of searching the phonebook is that the contacts are sorted by searching only for the first letter. On the other hand, viewing recent calls is always available, and among them you can perform a search. If more than one contact is found as a result of the query, the button with the number and arrow will move through the list in search of the desired item.

The Call Log tab is located next to the dial menu. It displays all dialed, received and missed calls in one list. There is a tiny icon identifying the SIM card with which the call was made or received.

Call and messages

The smartphone's call is quite sharp and can be loud enough for most situations. Vibration is also felt very much.

When typing messages, you can note one advantage of the phone - the text input field is increased as much as it can be (adding up to 10 lines).

Adding multimedia content to a message automatically turns it into an MMS. You can quickly add a photo or sound file to send them along with the text, or instantly compose MMS using all available functions (for example, several slides, layouts, etc.).

You can save the message to send automatically at a later point in time. You can also mark certain numbers as "spam" and block messages coming from them.

The Gmail application supports batch operations that allow the simultaneous movement of several emails in the "Archive", "Viewed" or in the "Recycle bin". By default, the service supports several Gmail accounts.

Another interesting feature is that in the mailbox you can move your finger left or right to move between messages.

The smartphone also has a combined mailbox that combines all the mail in one folder. This can be very handy if you use many accounts and you just want to periodically check if a new message has arrived that is worth your attention.

Keyboard

The Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime Duos G531H is equipped with a keyboard that comes with several text input options. So, there is a traditional QWERTY mode, which can switch to portrait and landscape orientation.

There are several bonuses that this keyboard can offer. You can move your finger left and right to switch between letters and symbols, and also connect the option "Continuous Input", which allows you to enter words by drawing solid lines above the keys (similar to Swype).

Smartphone Samsung Grand Prime Duos has advanced text recognition capabilities to minimize typos. If you enable the appropriate settings, it will scan your email, messages on Facebook and Twitter and remember the words and phrases that you use most often.

Samsung Grand Duos - Performance Specifications

This characteristic of the phone can be defined as rather controversial As mentioned above, the performance of the Galaxy Grand Duos is quite good, but not excellent at some points. Most people probably will not notice this, but specialists immediately notice such details. However, do not forget that the Samsung Grand Prime VE Duos is positioned in the market as an Android-phone of an average price category. Users of "Android" who are used to high-end smartphones, for sure will be disappointed, but this comparison of gadgets is incorrect.

This model uses a dual-core processor with a frequency of 1.2 GHz, which works fast enough to provide the user with uninterrupted operation and fast execution of everyday tasks. However, for the use of games and heavy programs this device is not intended, so their good work can not be guaranteed.

Samsung Grand Duos - reviews and conclusions

What is the result? Galaxy Grand Duos is an excellent device for users who want to buy an inexpensive smartphone with two SIM cards. It is convenient to hold in hands, and it works quite quickly. Most users are satisfied with the speed of the gadget. Samsung's integrated NatureUX interface makes it very easy and enjoyable to use.

Users may find themselves a little disappointed with the screen of the phone, especially its resolution. Many of those who leave negative reviews, note this drawback. And it really is so - first of all, because the icons on the desktop seem too big, and PPI has a very small value. The camera and smartphone battery, on the other hand, work quite well. This advantage was noted by many owners.

Thus, Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos, reviews of which are generally positive, will suit those who want to buy a phone that can process two SIM cards at the same time.