It is not often that you come across a QWERTY keyboard (the non-sliding type) laden Android phone. There have been a few examples in the past like the Motorola Charm and the now ancient Kogan Agora Pro. Most Android handsets seem to favor the full touchscreen variants with a slide out keyboard. That said, there has been a history of half QWERTY phones like the E71 and the E72 doing well. And then there are the BlackBerry’s . Anyway, it’s good to see manufacturers staring to offer more form factor options for the Android platform.
Today we have Samsung’s just launched Galaxy Pro with us. This is a mid-range smartphone running Android 2.2 (Froyo). The Galaxy PRO comes in a rather large box for a mid-range phone. The package includes most of the expected stuff that includes the charger, micro USB cable, user manual, a set of in ear earphones and of course a 2GB microSD card along with an adapter. Should you feel the supplied 2 GB isn’t enough, you can expand the memory to up to 32 GB. The handset comes with 512 MB of internal memory out of which 140 MB is effectively usable. The internal memory cannot be used to store images and files. You get to store only apps in there.
Look and Feel
The Galaxy Pro is quite a decent looking phone. However, it also looks like a almost exact replica of the Motorola Charm – a similar Android laden phone. The screen measures 2.8 inches across and has a resolution of 320*240. This is very low by Android standards and you might be put off by the resolution if you have been used to much higher resolution displays. But then if you come from the E71 school of thought, the resolution seems just fine. The phone feels quite plasticky – but not cheap. The overall fit and finish feels decent- but could have been better. The phone although not very slim, is quite lightweight. This will easily slide in to your pockets and won’t be bothersome as well. It also boasts of the same sliding cover mechanism for keeping the dust away from the microUSB port. This has been hitherto seen on Samsung’s bada laden phones and also the Galaxy S.
UI
The Galaxy PRO runs Samsung’s TouchWiz interface over Android version 2.2.2 and is powered by an 800 Mhz processor. You would be at home with the UI if you have used earlier Touchwiz laden Android handsets from Samsung. The phone feels quite zippy thanks to the fast processor. Just in case we haven’t informed you, the phone is full touchscreen device as well. The touchscreen works quite well and is very responsive. Of course, it would be crazy to expect an onscreen keyboard on this one when the screen has little real estate left and when you have a nice, expansive keyboard at your disposal as well. The keyboard is right up there with amongst of the best out there. The buttons are responsive and we have no hesitation in recommending the device to a messaging and e-mail junkie.
Imaging
The GT B7510 gets a basic 3.2 megapixel, fixed focus camera with features like smile shot and a panorama mode. In all, this should suffice for a person who is looking to use this one as a casual camera for basic photography. Video recording can be done at QVGA resolution at 30 fps – which again is fine for a device in this class. Here are some sample images and videos from the phone.
Sample Shots: (Click on them for an enlarged view)
Sample Video shot from Galaxy Pro:
Connectivity
Even though a mid-range handset, the Galaxy PRO doesn’t compromise on connectivity options – packing in almost everything you can think of. It supports Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP and of course, USB
Performance
We ran a few benchmarks on the phone to see how the phone stacks up on the global scale. It didnt really disappoint us. Using AnTutu System Benchmark, it returned a score of 1201. Quadrant bechmark puts the Galaxy Pro above the likes of the HTC Desire, Nexus One and the Sony Ericsson Xperia x10. Here are the scores.
Samsung Galaxy Pro (Quick Video Review):
Conclusion
The Samsung Galaxy PRO is a decent, value for money phone. There are somethings like the screen resolution and the lack of a decently spec’d camera that might bother you. However, for the price it retails, it is an almost perfect phone. The keypad is a joy to type on, the UI is zippy and the multimedia capability too is just above normal. The performance is way above average and if you have been waiting for an affordable Android handset with a physical QWERTY keyboard, your wait just ended. The Galaxy PRO is priced at Rs.12,500.
would u recommend this over Moto Charm ?
Yea, i think this would be better than Charm. I’ve read a few reviews of Charm and also I think this has a better battery life… I was thinking of going for charm… But maybe I’d go for this, or if anything better that comes up till I buy this… 😛
Cant really recommend unless I check the Charm out!
u guys are doing very few reviews…this one was fast and nice but get a camparo of the Android phone segment and qwerty and 20k plus segment and everything!
Hey, Thanks for commenting
To answer your question first. This is surely rated above Charm. Reasons being Price, Android version 2.2 vs 2.1, same camera.
Unless you really love the backside trackpad on the Charm.
And I completely agree that we need to do a lot LOT more reviews. And we hope to do so. Being a small startup that struggles to meet its monthly requirements, its hard for us to get much of features done like this. I would remind our readers that none of these famous companies send us product for review (atleast not until a few months after release, when it makes no sense for us). The primary reason being that we are a online resource and not a TV channel.
We have to arrange these products ourselves and that means that our capacity to review them is limited and the duration for which we have the handset with us is minimal. But hey, when we do it, you know that we aren’t sitting on the couch waiting for a product to be sent by the manufacturer while you are puzzled on how it woud fare. We do it before anyone else around does it. We hope to do better with increased investment in reviews, but if we are to make a Bigger difference, it has to be with these companies sending us handsets, on time. How about starting with responding to our emails, Dear Samsung!
Thanks for the reply. i sincerely hope that the manufacturers start taking u seriously.
as an expert in technology and having a deep understanding of it, you might be frustrated to face the fact that you would have limited resources, and arrangement takes time.
but you cant give up and have to keep trying hard. i look forward to the editor’s note/speech/word every month.reading them makes me think what is this guy doing over here ? why isn’t someone at Sony, Samsung, Nokia, etc employing him ?
i believe it will take lot of hard work to make these companies look up to us, but u cant build a successful website and become a hit in one day. and i know that you might have realized that by now.
so keep the momentum going!
and its never too late for a review. remember that there will be atleast one person (that would be me) who would read those reviews. i hope to join your team someday.
Thanks, your words are my inspiration.
It was really nice to read a no nonsense review about the Galaxy Pro. Your review covered all of the features/specs which a phone user would be concerned about. I was seriously looking to purchase this Android QWERTY Phone from Samsung since the past 1 month and now that I came to know that it has been finally launched in the market, I would like to know, if it is available with the Samsung dealers now because I didn’t find this phone on the Samsung Mobiles website till today.
Also, if you can please provide the details of the source from where this phone can be bought right now!
Thanks
This seems to be a soft launch. No promotion seen with. It’s very much in the market with most dealers (at least in Mumbai). We also saw the same on Flipkart.com (check check).
Thanks for the review, I’ve been looking for any reviews with regards to the phone and have been comparing specs to Huawei U8300 that was not released in my country (yet I’m eager to buy one).
I’m switching to Galaxy Pro since the said model isn’t available. Thanks for the review!
Many thanks for the review, does it have push email and how that works , And is there any online sellers in India which can ship the phone to Australia cause i don’t think they will bring here.
Cheers
You mentioned that “this phone comes with 512 MB of internal memory out of which 140 MB is effectively usable” Does this mean that the ROM is 512MB? Whats the RAM size?
I wish that there was an LED indicators for notifications so one doesn’t have to turn the device on/unlock the screen, just to check for new messages…
Is it possible you could try installing a few apps like ‘Easy Reminder,’ to see if the app can use the battery LED as a missed call LED? Do report back with findings! 🙂
Thanks for a great review!
Hi,
Good review – I am from the Nokia E71/E72 school as our business is Activesync enabled and the Blackberry BES is too expensive – especially when MS Exchange gives it away for free.
I have just bought an ACER BeTouch E210 – which is a little cheaper than the Samsung PRO but only has a resistive touchscreen – it would be interesting to see someone do a group test of a few of these “Blackberry Alternatives” including the Nokia E5/E72 and maybe the Charm too.
Keep up the good work 🙂
Group test sounds good! Will try for it.
Hi,
Nice review. Could you please confirm, whether it has a front camera for video calls?
Thanks,
Mathew
No front camera on this. Would confirm once again though.
One of the beegest Samsung Achilles’ heels has been the GPS performance – does this perform well on that ? How much time does it take to lock-in and what is the lock-in range ? 100 m or right down to 3-5 m ?
@Ranjan, Achilles Heel? Yo might want to read this! 🙂
http://onlygizmos.com/samsung-galaxy-s-ii-gps-performance/2011/04/
@Rahul: Thanks ! But doesn’t gimme a lot of comfort on the Pro’s GPS :(. Played with it at Croma today and kinda lovved it, but unsure about the GPS !!