Samsung Galaxy Core Preview

Introduction:

Them Samsung phones just keep on coming! Here's one of the latest members of the gang – the Samsung Galaxy Core, which is a fairly priced Android model available in both single- and dual-SIM flavors. Priced at about $300 off contract, it doesn't really have much to impress with. A quick run down its specs sheet shows that it comes with a 4.3-inch screen, 5MP camera, and a 1.2GHz dual-core processor. Android 4.1 Jelly Bean – heavily skinned by Samsung – comes pre-loaded onto the device. So yes, it looks like there's nothing that the Samsung Galaxy Core has to surprise us with, yet we are definitely going to give it a chance anyway. Read on as we take an almost final Galaxy Core prototype unit for a preview.

Design:

Unsurprisingly, to say the least, Samsung has chosen to stick with its tried and trusted design formula. And that can be interpreted as either good or bad, depending on what a potential buyer's priorities are: it is true that the Samsung Galaxy Core looks like a dozen other Galaxies and doesn't really have anything to stand out visually other than the criss-cross pattern covering its surface, but on the other hand, those curved corners do look nice and have a positive impact on ergonomics, making the device comfortable to hold. Made of glossy plastic, the Galaxy Core feels nothing more than ordinary to the touch, but its non-slippery finish actually resists fingerprints quite well.



For those who are into numbers, the Samsung Galaxy Core weighs 124 grams so yes, it is pretty light, although its weight is average for a smartphone of this caliber. Its has a thickness of under 9 millimeters so it is slim and slips easily into any bag or pocket. As of this writing, there are two color variants of the device – white and dark blue.


The buttons on the Galaxy Core are arranged in a typical for Samsung manner, with a physical home key in the middle under the screen and two capacitive buttons for the “menu” and “back” functions on its sides. Being large enough and well spaced out makes these keys easy to hit and hard to press accidentally. The volume and power buttons are on the left and right sides of the smartphone respectively and we can confirm that they are easy to reach.

Display:

The 4.3-inch display on the Samsung Galaxy Core is okay in terms of size, but nothing special when it comes to quality. It has a below average resolution of 480 by 800 pixels (217ppi), and while photos and videos displayed on it look fine, small-sized text can be hard to read. Colors are accurate in general, but shift towards the warm side if the screen is tilted even at a slight angle.

We find it annoying that the Galaxy Core has no light sensor. This means that the smartphone is unable to set the brightness of the screen automatically, depending on how much ambient light is present. Instead, the user has to set the brightness manually using the slider in the notification bar.

Using the Samsung Galaxy Core outdoors can be a challenge. That's because the screen's surface is very reflective, making it really hard to see what's being displayed unless the user covers the screen with their hand.

Interface:

With Android 4.1 Jelly Bean on board, the Samsung Galaxy Core is a step behind being as current as it gets, even though version 4.2 of the platform has been out for half a year. The UI isn't in its latest form either – Samsung's heavily customized, nature-inspired interface is present on the device, but it is the variant we've known since the Galaxy S III launched, instead of the version found on the Galaxy S4. Not that it's a deal breaker, but it should be mentioned.

So as we said, the UI has undergone some serious alterations – it has been improved both visually and in terms of functionality. As usual, Samsung has enabled the placement of user-specified shortcuts on the lock screen, which speeds up the launching of the camera, the dialer, or any other app that is installed. Toggle buttons have been placed in the notification bar, allowing one to quickly control some of the smartphone's settings. Icons, animations, wallpapers – all of them have been replaced as well.



However, many of the fancy features found on the company's flagship smartphones, Such as S Health, S Translator, Group Play, and Optical Reader, to name a few, have been omitted. The only perk you get is Smart Stay, which prevents the screen from being turned off as long as the user is still looking at it.

We are content with the on-screen virtual keyboard present on the Samsung Galaxy Core. It is accurate and its keys are well spaced out, so we can comfortably type at above average speeds even in portrait mode.

Dual-SIM features:

There is a dual-SIM version of the Galaxy Core known as the Samsung Galaxy Core Duos. That makes it a smartphone capable of using the services of two carriers at the same time – phone calls, text messages, and data connectivity over 3G – and each of these tasks can be independently assigned to either SIM card. What's more is that the Galaxy Core Duos is a dual active smartphone, and only few of all dual-SIM handsets on the market are like that. In other words, if one SIM card is used during a phone call, the other is still operational, so it can receive calls, text messages, and cellular data.

Processor and memory:

The Samsung Galaxy Core ranks below the average when it comes to raw processing power. It is equipped with a Snapdragon S4 Play SoC – the MSM8625, which packs a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, Adreno 203 graphics, and 1GB of RAM has been thrown in as well. That's enough oomph to provide an overall passable user experience, but flawless task execution shouldn't be expected from this handset. In fact, choppiness and lags can be quite common, especially when there are apps running in the background. Casual games, such as Angry Birds or Fruit Ninja, run fluidly, but more demanding titles can be choppy.

Since the Samsung Galaxy Core comes with just 8GB of built-in storage, half of which is taken up by system files, you'll run out of space rather quickly. That is, unless you pop in a microSD card to store your music, photos, and videos on it.

Web browser and connectivity:

For the most part, browsing the web on the Samsung Galaxy Core is a smooth experience. What the stock browser struggles with is loading and rendering heavy pages, but other than that, we have nothing to complain about. Embedded YouTube videos are playable and so are animated GIFs. In addition, there's the so-called Reader mode, which is used to clear certain web pages from ads and unnecessary images, leaving only the body of an article for easy reading.


Connecting to the internet from the Samsung Galaxy Core is done either via Wi-Fi, or using its 3G radio, which is capable of reaching peak download speeds of only 7.2Mbps. Further connectivity features include GPS, Bluetooth, and FM Radio.

Camera:

The Samsung Galaxy Core has a 5MP camera with LED flash on its back and a 0.3MP front-facing camera for video chats and self-portaits. Upon launching the camera app we are greeted by Samsung's older camera UI, which is still okay as it provides access to camera settings and multiple shooting scenes. Panorama mode is present as well, stitching multiple photos together to create a single panoramic image. Burst mode snaps about 5 shots per second, which is nice if you're shooting fast, moving objects, but the images are captured at a low resolution. 



The good thing about the Galaxy Core and its camera is that its photos are, indeed, presentable. Sure, there is a bit of noise here and there and the dynamics could be better, but overall, we can't complain about their quality given the price point of the phone we're shooting with. Somewhat disappointing, however, is that the camera is slow to boot and focus, meaning that there's a chance of you missing the moment you're trying to capture. Also, indoor shots are noisy and often have inaccurate colors.



720 by 480 is the maximum resolution, at which the Samsung Galaxy Core can capture videos. That's barely acceptable so using the smartphone for video recording isn't recommended, unless there is no other camera around. But while it lacks in detail, footage runs smoothly at 30 frames per second. 



Multimedia:

We see that Samsung has pre-loaded its own set of multimedia apps on the Galaxy Core. Among them is the same music player app found on all its other Android devices. It works as expected and has all the essential features one would need, including album art, sorting tracks by artist, album, or song name, folder browsing, and an equalizer. A home screen widget comes loaded as well. The volume output of the single built-in speaker is average and you might not be able to hear it well in noisy environment, but at least it doesn't distort the sound at maximum volume.