Samsung Galaxy 5 Review

Introduction:

There comes a time in everybody’s life when they have to make the decision to smartphone or not to smartphone. If you are coming from a regular phone, but mustered up courage to move onto the touchscreen fad that started a few years ago, then the next natural step for you would be a phone like the Samsung Galaxy 5.

Its hardware is low-end, but don’t be fooled by that – it masks a device with all modern connectivity options and Android 2.1 for a rock bottom price. Hopefully this will lure you enough to read on if you are interested in a name-brand Android handset for tight budgets…

Design:

Reminiscing the sleek design of the Samsung’s Corby line, the handset has the typical sloping sides with a diagonally-running trim in dark grey color. The trademark Samsung piano black glossy plastic is the material of choice for the front and back. A 2.8” capacitive touchscreen of the lowly 240x320 pixels of resolution comes on the Samsung Galaxy 5. Visibility is below average in the sun, but indoors brightness and color gamut are more than adequate. The display registers touch easily, however it doesn’t support multi-touch gestures.



You can compare the Samsung Galaxy 5 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

Underneath it are the 5-directional D-pad, two rocker buttons for the four Android functions – home, search, menu and back – and two call keys. Everything is crammed in the small space below the screen, which presents a problem for people with bigger hands, but still, the key travel is deep enough, with distinct clicks. The buttons lack any backlighting whatsoever, so you better learn what is where by heart.


Since there is no dedicated camera key, the only elements around the handset are the volume rocker on the left, where the microUSB port is, and a 3.5mm audio jack up top. The 2MP camera on the back is run by a virtual shutter key in the camera interface.


All in all, it’s a small and light handset that is comfortable to hold, a solid heir of the Corby line, with some sacrifices such as the lack of button backlighting, or any sensors, for that matter - such as proximity or ambient light, in the front.