Samsung Galaxy Pro Review

Introduction:

With a flurry of Android handsets released in the past year, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate between them. That said, QWERTY devices are thinner on the ground and for this reason, when the Samsung Galaxy Pro landed on our desk, we were hopeful. With a BlackBerry-esque form factor, 3MP autofocus camera and 2.8" capacitive screen as well as a host of connectivity options, the Galaxy Pro also packs a 4 tiered QWERTY keyboard.

Design:

The Samsung Galaxy Pro looks rather rectangular and rigid, so while similar in form factor to BlackBerrys of late, it lacks the curvaceous styling. Below the 2.8" capacitive screen, a 4 tiered QWERTY keyboard can be found. The phone is entirely plastic, though feels sturdy.



You can compare the Samsung Galaxy Pro with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

A 2.8" screen is pretty small for an Android handset, though as there's a QWERTY rather than an on-screen keyboard on the Galaxy Pro, the screen size itself isn't a major issue. Unfortunately, its low resolution of 320x240 pixels is. Add to that the lack of multi-touch and the Samsung Galaxy Pro display begins to lose appeal. Viewing angles are also pretty poor, as is outdoor visibility, making the display's one redeeming factor being its responsiveness.


Fortunately the design of the phone helps make up for the screen's shortcomings, with a pleasing aesthetic and overall solid feel finished off with a good keyboard experience. Directly below the screen are four physical keys offering access to options, home, back and search. Below this is the QWERTY keyboard, occupied by raised keys that are easily identifiable. We were very pleased to find out that the keyboard is nicely sized (for a portrait QWERTY, that is), and the keys themselves have a pretty decent travel that leaves you without hesitation as to whether or not you've pressed it right.


To the right of the phone is a volume rocker and to the left a power button. Up top you can find a 3.5mm headphone jack and a microUSB port which has a cool sliding cover, while on the reverse of the handset is the battery cover complete with a textured finish, 3MP camera and loud speaker.

Interface:

The Samsung Galaxy Pro delivers Samsung's own TouchWiz 3.0 atop Google's Android 2.2, adding some tangible functionality to the OS. These tweaks include four icons on the right of the homescreen offering shortcuts to your dialler, contacts, messaging and the app drawer. On the subject of app drawers, Samsung's app drawer is of the staggered variety, so apps can be scrolled through 12 at a time on a 4x3 grid and for additional personalization, the order can be customized. You can also add or remove homescreens, allowing you anything ranging from a single homescreen through to 7.


Input is a combination of keyboard and touchscreen and works well for the most part. As we said, the keyboard itself is responsive and the keys have a satisfying click to them. Despite this, long text entry on the Samsung Galaxy Pro does start to feel cramped, making it usable for messaging, but not long documents. Another benefit of the on-board QWERTY is speedy access to Android Search by simply typing when on a homescreen.

As far as messaging goes, Social Hub congregates email and social networking. Unfortunately, this doesn't offer anything beyond links to the native email app and web versions of Facebook and Twitter. Text messaging is delivered in a conversation flow while email and Gmail are delivered in standard Android styling.



Camera and Multimedia:

If you want to send messages, you'll probably want pictures to go with them. Luckily, the Samsung Galaxy Pro gives you a 3MP snapper with autofocus, though no flash. Overall, this performs well for a mid-range device. The auto-focus means you can get some decent close-up shots, though they tend to be loaded with noise unless taken in daylight or good indoor lighting. Colour reproduction is a bit dull, though detail is decent for a 3MP sensor.



Video is recorded at a maximum resolution of 320x240, perfect for the screen and passable for YouTube, but not great for higher quality displays. Thankfully, video is smooth enough at 30fps. However, recorded sound is a touch muffled.

Samsung Galaxy Pro Sample Video:



The 3.5mm headphone jack, microSD card support and stock Android MP3 player mean the handset fits the bill if you want to listen to your tracks on the go. The loud speaker also performs surprisingly well, delivering above average volume and clarity.

The same can't be said if you want to watch movies though. With the small, low-res screen, the Samsung Galaxy Pro is better suited to short YouTube clips than feature films.



Internet and Connectivity:

Harnessing a full range of connectivity options including quad-band GSM, dual-band 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and aGPS, the handset is impressively kitted out for the price.

Web browsing on the device uses Android's standard browser, however is hampered by a lack of multi-touch. Couple this with the low-resolution screen and it's clear very early on that no matter how well connected, the Samsung Galaxy Pro doesn't step up to the plate as far as the online user experience goes.

Performance:

Call quality on the phone is passable. When making calls, the person on the other end has a tendency to sound a bit faint, however, they reported we sounded audible, though not entirely crisp with some slight background noise.

Given the low graphical demands of the handset, we're glad to say that an area the Samsung Galaxy Pro excels is performance. It's packing an 800MHz processor and doesn't show signs of lagging at all. Battery life is also pretty good with 11 hours of talk time and 26 days of stand by time, which is kind of impressive. We found that this translated to a couple of days semi-regular use.

Conclusion:

So, if you're after a messaging phone, you want it to do cool stuff like tether, play music well and offer a greater selection of apps than a BlackBerry, all at a low price point, then the Samsung Galaxy Pro may be for you. Sadly, there is a compromise in the form of the screen. Its low resolution and lack of multi-touch puts it below other Android handsets specifically for tasks like web browsing and picture viewing. For everything else though, we are pretty impressed with Samsung's mid-range offering. A decent alternative to the device is the BlackBerry Curve, which is a more business-centric, albeit pricey handset. If you are after a cheaper QWERTY device and don’t need smartphone functionality, consider the Nokia C3.

Thanks to Three for providing us with the review unit. Samsung Galaxy Pro is now avaialble on Three with all-you-can-eat-data.

Software version of the reviewed unit:
Baseband version:
B7510NEKC2

Kernel version:
2.6.32.9-perf

Build number
FROYO.XWKC5

Samsung Galaxy Pro Video Review: