Samsung Galaxy Y Pro Preview

Introduction:

According to the new smartphone naming scheme, the “Pro” component in the Samsung Galaxy Y Pro’s title indicates a physical keyboard. While “Pro” has often been included in the name of portrait or side-sliding physical QWERTY handsets, now the moniker is officialized by Samsung, guaranteeing some thumb gymnastics. Again following the new nomenclature, “Y” should indicate an entry level handset, targeting emerging markets or the younger crowd, i.e. affordable handsets with lesser specs.

The Samsung Galaxy Y Pro covers these modest expectations with a humble sub-1GHz processor, 3MP camera and a 2.6” display with pedestrian resolution, but it sports the latest Android 2.3 Gingerbread and a capacitive touchscreen in addition to the portrait QWERTY thumb-bender. Are they complementing each other well in the Galaxy Y Pro? We have a prototype unit for preview here, so let's find out…

Design:

The Samsung Galaxy Y Pro doesn’t shine with any unorthodox design decisions, it’s just a portrait QWERTY candybar. There are no fancy capacitive buttons underneath the display – all four Android keys and the optical pad in their middle are physical buttons, which will appeal to many who prefer a reassuring click and clack underneath their thumbs. All navigational buttons are large, square, easy to find and press.  The optical pad can be pressed to execute a command, and it is sensitive enough for accurate navigation across the 2.6” screen.



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

The display size at 2.6” is what one can expect from such a form factor. It isn't winning any resolution awards with its 240x320 pixels, but it is something one can expect considering the phone's class. We're happy that  the touchscreen layer is very sensitive even on our prototype unit, making navigating Android 2.3 Gingerbread a joy.


Now it’s time to say a few words about the Samsung Galaxy Y Pro’s most important asset – its physical portrait QWERTY keyboard. The phone is relatevily wide, with enough space for the keyboard; it is chiclet-style, with each dome separated from the others with enough space to easily feel the buttons by touch. There are two function keys down right, which can be assigned to actions of your choosing – neat idea.


Overall, we dig the simple and functional design of the Samsung Galaxy Y Pro. Its physical keyboard keys are of decent size, the navigational buttons are easy to press, and the capacitive touchscreen is responsive. Naturally, if you have larger hands, this won’t be the phone for you, unless you can make do by pecking with your nail edges.

Interface and functionality:

Android 2.3 Gingerbread runs very well on the 832MHz processor of our Galaxy Y Pro preview unit, perhaps because the TouchWiz overlay doesn’t flaunt any transitional animations, semi-transparency or other resource-consuming eye candy here.


Since there isn’t any virtual keyboard, the relatively small 2.6” screen feels spacious enough when typing texts, emails, or updating your social network status.


Since the handset is teen oriented, Samsung’s Social Hub will be pretty often used, as it covers the popular Facebook and Twitter, but also contains a Microsoft Exchange setup for the business crowd.

Internet and Connectivity:

Gingerbread’s browser is a rather funny experience on a 2.6” display. We are not used to the lack of pinch-to-zoom and Adobe Flash, but text reflow and panning work quite well, so it is still rather usable. Besides double-tap, you can zoom in and out with the usual magnifying glass icons.


The Samsung Galaxy Y Pro sports a decent set of connectivity options – 3G, Wi-Fi, A-GPS and Bluetooth, as well as FM radio with RDS. No bells and whistles such as DLNA or Wi-Fi Direct, but we didn’t expect those here anyway.

Camera:

The camera interface is basic, but functional, offering several preset scene modes and effects. The 3MP shooter here makes fairly sharp photos  but our test unit is not final, so we’ll refrain from comments. The maximum video capture resolution is just 320x240, we’d like to see at least 640x480, as this CPU should be able to support it. There is no front-facing camera for video chat.


Samsung Galaxy Y Pro Sample Video:



Multimedia:

The default TouchWiz-ed music player is what takes care of your tune needs, and it sports a bunch of equalizer presets with enigmatic names like “music clarity” or “externalization”.


The video player runs MPEG-4 files up to the screen’s resolution and even a tad above, but for other formats you’d have to hit Android Market.

Expectations:

The Samsung Galaxy Y Pro looks conceived to replace popular entry-level portrait QWERTY handsets like the Nokia C3, which has sold millions since launch. It, however runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread like a champ, which immediately gives you the Android Market backing.

Phones like the Galaxy Y Pro, targeted at teens or emerging markets, are usually guaranteed to sell in volume, if they are a compelling combination of features, and Samsung seems to have all the right ingredients here. Now it will all depend on the price - according to the new naming scheme, the entry level “Y” models are reserved for the sub-$180 category, so the Galaxy Y Pro could stand a chance. We'll save our opinion for when we get a final unit and review it.

Samsung Galaxy Y Pro Video Preview: