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Samsung GALAXY Gio Review

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Posted: , by Daniel P.

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Performance and Conclusion:

Samsung GALAXY Gio Review
There was a slight hiss in the earpiece during phone conversation. The output is loud enough so you don't have trouble hearing, but the voices are not easily discernible. The other party said they couldn't hear us very well, since our voice came hollow, and with a lot of static noise accompanying it. The 1350mAh battery is rated for 6 hours and 40 minutes of talk time with 3G mode turned on, which is a decent performance, but nothing extraordinary.

Overall, we were quite satisfied with the Samsung Galaxy Gio. It has a pleasant design with tapered edges and rounded corners that make it comfortable to hold and operate with one hand, plus it is very light – you can slip it in any pocket, and forget it's there.

The quality of the photos taken with the 3MP camera was a nice surprise, even on the dark, rainy day when we were shooting the samples – the colors are saturated, the sensor catches good amount of detail, and the camera focuses well even if you don't hold the phone extremely steady.

One relative disappointment is the lack of full Adobe Flash support in the browser of the Samsung Galaxy Gio. We don't know if Samsung left it out so as it doesn't bog down performance and battery life, or just that this 800MHz chipset doesn't have the instructions to support it, but it takes away from the true Android 2.2 Froyo experience.

Other than that the interface runs slick, the LCD screen is very good, and you have a plethora of connectivity options with the Samsung Galaxy Gio - what's not to like here, considering the price range.

If you are looking for alternatives that support Adobe Flash, you will have to chip in for something more powerful like the Samsung Galaxy S. If you want to stay on the same level, but prefer soft-touch plastic and chromed accents, the LG Optimus One was a huge hit, and shares the specs of the Samsung Galaxy Gio, albeit with a slower processor.

Software version of the reviewed unit: 2.6.32.9


Samsung Galaxy Gio Video Review:


Pros

  • Well-rounded inexpensive Android 2.2 Froyo handset
  • Very good picture quality for this price point

Cons

  • Below average in-call quality
  • Lack of Adobe Flash support in the browser
PhoneArena rating:
7.5
User rating:
8.8 15 Reviews

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31 Comments

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1. Lawrence (unregistered) posted on 10 May 2011, 13:01

Qualcomm 7227 = ARM v6 = No flash

Why are so many manufacturers bringing out new products with this ancient chip?!?

2. Eingild posted on 11 May 2011, 03:17

Omg! You again for the video review?!! I don't want to be a douche here but your voice is SSSOOOOOOOOO BOOOORRRRIIINNNGGGG!!

4. androidlover97 posted on 28 May 2011, 22:52

you can't be serious, why this phone can be better than the galaxy ace?????

5. nanobot (unregistered) posted on 01 Aug 2011, 02:47

hello want to ask,does this galaxy gio have a macro fiture on its camera? i want to buy this handset very soon,thank u

30. caseychanfc posted on 20 Nov 2011, 07:28

It's all auto, just focus on a close up subject and it'll do the job - in fact it does it pretty well. Many a time it could focus on a close up subject when my relatives iphone 4 couldn't :)

6. Toomuch (unregistered) posted on 21 Aug 2011, 09:43

Phone has no battery life. Piece of junk.

15. ROLO666 (unregistered) posted on 22 Sep 2011, 16:03

every android device has that problem dude

7. ALot (unregistered) posted on 28 Aug 2011, 13:09

It has great battery life! You clearly have no idea of what you're talking about...sad...

8. G (unregistered) posted on 29 Aug 2011, 12:21

Perfect phone! Love much better than my previous one (iphone 3G) - nice display, good battery life, quick response.

9. Lynne Woods (unregistered) posted on 01 Sep 2011, 07:56

All I want to know is how to end a call



thank y ou

10. MachiShupp (unregistered) posted on 03 Sep 2011, 07:27

I got this for free from my sim's company and so far I'm very impressed. I thought that since it's an touchscreen phone it would be hard to type because I once used an iPhone for about a week . And that gave me a really bad impression on touchscreen phones !

But now, I so take it back. :D this phone

11. foxontherock (unregistered) posted on 06 Sep 2011, 15:08

If you like a battery duration of more than 24 hours, when doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING with the phone, do not buy this. It drains battery energy by doing nothing.

12. quentin (unregistered) posted on 11 Sep 2011, 23:23

i have a samsung galaxy gio i accidently switched my keyboard to swype key mode how do i change it back to original keyboard?

16. LINSB07 (unregistered) posted on 26 Sep 2011, 16:53

Just hold your finger in the stop where you type, then select "input method" once the pop-up menu comes up, and change it back to "Samsung Keyboard"

13. melxyas warino (unregistered) posted on 12 Sep 2011, 01:43

mau tanya,nada sms samsung galaxy gio,bisa di buat mp3 gak

14. mike (unregistered) posted on 12 Sep 2011, 15:01

I just got this phone and so far its great except i cant install adobe air and firefox on it. Anyone now why?

17. Mo (unregistered) posted on 29 Sep 2011, 01:06

got this phone a few days ago. great response time. battery life is very low, samsung should have thought of it for a multi applicatiion phone. would be great if there was an option to keep the screen from switching off when using GPS option.

18. pringles (unregistered) posted on 29 Sep 2011, 12:07

was looking to buy either the samsung galaxy gio or the htc wildfire s. does anyone know which is better? the texting is the most important.

thanks

20. funky (unregistered) posted on 29 Sep 2011, 13:29

Man, dont go for htc wildfire, it a piece of junk, i had that set, and it was not even able to play angry bird with out lags, simply a waste of money, i would prefer u to have gio, its worth it, :o)

25. pringles (unregistered) posted on 09 Oct 2011, 14:16

thanks for the input. i have talked to others too and i have decided to get the samsung galaxy gio, my only worry is about battery life span i have heard its really bad.

19. pringles (unregistered) posted on 29 Sep 2011, 12:09

or if anyone knows of a better phone for around the same price range that would be helpfull up to $ 250.00 prepaid.

21. Abdullah (unregistered) posted on 01 Oct 2011, 02:29

Hi dear is there front camera in galaxy gio

22. tfer (unregistered) posted on 03 Oct 2011, 03:44

Everything anyone ever said about rubbish battery life is true!!! Have had this phone three months now and have to charge it every day. Also Lynne's comment about hanging up. If the screen blanks out, when you recover it the keypad is gone and you have to shut the phone down to hang up. It's a piece of merde' Samsung should do the walk of shame!

23. amer (unregistered) posted on 09 Oct 2011, 00:32

how much this phone ? i want to buy this phone too.. ;p

24. pringles (unregistered) posted on 09 Oct 2011, 14:12

the samsung galaxy gio is 149.99 dollars on prepaid

27. Haikarainen (unregistered) posted on 11 Oct 2011, 13:58

Bought mine bound to a service provider (Comviq in SWE) for ~€70-80

26. Haikarainen (unregistered) posted on 11 Oct 2011, 13:57

The reason that flash is not supported, is because adobe's famous lazyness with porting their products to different architectures. The Qualcomm QCT MSM7227-1 runs an architecture that adobe seems to have left out, hence the incompatability. They should release it sooner or later though, but don't hold your breath.

28. Haikarainen (unregistered) posted on 11 Oct 2011, 14:03

Btw, the batteryproblem is usual with android devices, it's because people who use them dont know how to turn off apps/settings that drain batteries! Buy an iPhone if you cant handle techstuff. Dont use internet/maps? Turn off Wifi/GPS! Dont use 3G? Set 2G only! Download some process manager to kill apps you dont use. Turn off syncing if you dont need it. Turn of datatransmission-mode if you don't need internet also.

Use the device wisely and itll do you good.

29. ethannn (unregistered) posted on 15 Oct 2011, 10:42

phone is a peice of junk!!!!!! the battery dies in about 7 hours and when it dies i plug it in the charger and it will no turn on for a few hours ..it a real hasle..... but other then that when the phones on its a good phone!

31. buggerrer posted on 24 Dec 2011, 18:29

Just got this a few days ago for $150 CDN no contract. I've never used a smartphone before but I think this is excellent for the price. It's very hard to make this phone lag and battery life isn't as bad as people here are saying. I've played around with the vaunted iphone and there's not much difference in how this responds/functions. Of course I wish it had flash but for this price I can't complain.

32. nicklessa posted on 12 Aug 2012, 20:08

I've had this this phone for almost a yr, and there's 1 feature that i have hated since i got it..when your texting, it will call some random person, and briefly show you the end call screen, then disappear..so you have to pop the battery to get it to stop..or you accidently call instead of whatever, and it starts ringing, before the screen pops up to end call..grr

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