Samsung Exhibit II 4G powered by 1Ghz Snapdragon Processor

Introduction

The Samsung Exhibit II 4G is aimed primarily at commitment-challenged consumers. Being one of the quickest product sequels we’ve seen in a while, the device is marketed mostly as a Pay as you go phone, which offers you the full Android functionality at the affordable price of $200 with no contract required.

Being only the fourth largest wireless provider in the United States, T-Mobile has always positioned itself as the budget alternative to its significantly larger competitors. This year, the magenta colored provider has become even more aggressive in its pricing by offering all-you-can-eat monthly plans, which require no contract.

In case the device looks somewhat familiar to you, you’ve probably guessed it right. The Exhibit II 4G is essentially the U.S. version of the Samsung Galaxy W. In order to fit its attractive price tag however, some of its hardware has been replaced with less capable options. The CPU of the Exhibit II is a 1GHz Snapdragon, compared to the 1.4 GHz Scorpion core of the Galaxy W. Its camera unit on the other hand, comes straight from 2008 with its 3.2MP resolution and VGA video recording.
As always, we will follow with the full breakdown of the Samsung Exhibit II 4G by going over its key features and main disadvantages.

Key Features

• Quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G support
• 14.4 Mbps HSDPA; 5.76 Mbps HSUPA
• 1GHz Snapdragon CPU; Adreno 205 GPU; Qualcomm MSM 8255 chipset
• 512MB RAM; 1GB ROM; microSD card support (up to 32GB)
• 3.7” LCD display with WVGA (800 x 480 pixels) resolution; 252ppi pixel density
• Front-facing VGA camera for video calls
• Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread with TouchWiz 4.0 launcher
• Rich video format support out of the box
• Wi-Fi calling enabled
• Accelerometer, proximity and ambient light sensors

Main disadvantages

• Design is a bit dull
• 3.2MP camera with lowly VGA video recording; no dedicated key
• All plastic construction
• High amount of preloaded apps from T-Mobile
• No memory card enclosed

As you can notice above, the Samsung Exhibit II 4G will certainly not end up on your list of dream phones. It is not aiming for it though. With a decent spec sheet and software which comes straight from the top of the Samsung Android ranks, paired with a low price tag with non contract, the smartphone makes quite a lot of sense.

BlackBerry Curve 9360

Introduction

This QWERTY messenger is compact and to the point, with clean and grown up design. The Curve 9360 is sure it can deliver, its confidence unshaken by unknowns and uncertainties. RIM must've enjoyed the safety and comfort of doing what they're best at.

The new Bold flagship and the next Torch generation did the Curve 9360 a favor by taking the pressure of high expectations off it. All it needs to do is focus on the important stuff: giving business users and heavy texters the quality service they deserve. And by the way, it should be the best Curve experience they ever had.

The higher-res screen, robust processor and the new BlackBerry OS 7.0 with NFC support propel the 9360 into an entirely different dimension. Well out of reach for the Curve as we knew it - stuck at QVGA screens and 2 or 3 MP cameras. In fact, it's an option that Bold 9700 and 9780 users would do well to consider. Blasphemy - upgrading from a Bold to a Curve! Well, no more. Just take a closer look at the specs.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM and tri-band 3G support
• 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and 2 Mbps HSUPA
• 2.46" 16M-color TFT landscape display of HVGA+ resolution (480x360)
• Full QWERTY keyboard
• Optical trackpad
• 800MHz processor
• 512MB RAM, 512MB ROM
• Wi-Fi b/g/n connectivity
• NFC support
• GPS with A-GPS connectivity
• Bluetooth v2.1
• 5 megapixel fixed focus, VGA video recording
• BlackBerry OS 7
• Hot-swappable microSD card slot (up to 32GB), 4GB card in the box
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• Decent audio quality
• Office document editor
• Smart dialing
• DivX and XviD video support

Main disadvantages

• BlackBerry Internet Service account is a must to enjoy all phone features
• Poor still camera quality
• Bland text-only submenus
• Rigid call and navigation keys
• Fixed focus camera
• No HD video
• Glossy back panel prevents good grip, easily greased up

With the Bold stepping across into touchscreen, the Curve has new found space for growth. And the popular line of BlackBerries didn't hesitate to seize the opportunity. The Curve 9360 is a robust upgrade of its predecessor and a huge step forward for the entire lineup.

Uninspiring audio output

The BlackBerry Curve 9360 performance in our audio quality test is best described as just below average. The smartphone isn't among the loudest we have seen, nor has it got the cleanest output, but it's not terrible either.

With no resistance applied to the line-out (i.e. the active external amplifier) the Curve 9360 did quite decently. Its signal-to-noise, dynamic range and stereo crosstalk reading were really good and the frequency response was quite good for the most part. Intermodulation distortion was a quite a bit higher than average for that scenario, though.

And when you plug in a pair of headphones quite serious issues arise. The stereo crosstalk goes to levels we have rarely seen before and even more distortion creeps in.

Impressive video player

With so many better options out there, the Curve 9360 is an easy one to overlook if video-watching is a priority. It would be a mistake. The Curve 9360 does a really great job, so you might want to tick that box on your wish list.

The landscape screen is a good start, while the video player itself isn’t bad either. Its styling might not be too impressive, but the functionality is mostly there.
There are the usual playback controls when you hit a key or tap on the screen, along with a dedicated fit/zoom to screen button.

 The Curve 9360 video player is said to support DivX, XviD, H.264/MPEG-4 and WMV videos up to 720p resolution. It did manage to play all of the DivX files we threw at it, WMV, MOV and MP4 files up to 720p were no problem either, but the XviD videos didn’t go that easy. Some of the files were OK, while others where just incompatible. It seems it's a bit rate or audio thing, but we won't count on that XviD support much.

Gallery copy-pasted from OS 6

The image gallery hasn't changed since the OS 6, so it should be familiar to all BlackBerry users already.

Images can be browsed in grid mode or viewed as a standard list. There’s search by name here too, but we’re not the type that remembers the names of our image files, so we won’t count that as an extra.

Photos can only be browsed in landscape mode or you can manually rotate them. Unfortunately the Curve 9360 has no built-in accelerometer to provide automatic rotation.
You can skip to the next photo without returning to the gallery – you just flick your finger over the trackpad and you are done.

source : gsmarena

Samsung Galaxy S II SkyFire with 1.5Ghz dual core processor

Introduction

Announced together with the HTC Vivid, the smartphone is among the first LTE enabled devices, compatible with AT&T’s all new LTE network. The smartphone is certainly a welcome addition to the U. S. Samsung Galaxy S II lineup, as LTE was the only connectivity flavor missing in the lineup so far.

If you find the device looks somewhat familiar, there is a good reason for it. The Skyrocket is almost 100% identical to the T-Mobile Galaxy S II, which we came to like quite a lot. The handset has the same size and uses the same hardware, save for two major differences. First, the Skyrocket does not have NFC connectivity out of the box, even though it is capable of it. The second is much easier to notice – it is the LTE radio on board.

While the Galaxy S II purists might scoff at the presence of the Qualcomm-made CPU on board (the Exynos is still the fastest dual-core silicon we have seen), we must point out that it is the reason why the smartphone is capable of working on 4G networks. As always, you will find the rest of the Skyrocket’s key features below.

Key Features

• Quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G support
• 21 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 HSUPA support
• LTE network connectivity
• 4.52" 16M-color Super AMOLED Plus capacitive touchscreen of WVGA (480 x 800 pixel) resolution
• Android OS v2.3.5 with TouchWiz 4 launcher
• 1.5 GHz Scorpion dual-core CPU, Adreno 220 GPU, Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 chipset, 1GB of RAM
• 8 MP wide-angle lens autofocus camera with LED flash, face, smile and blink detection
• 1080p HD video recording at 30fps
• Hot swappable SIM and microSD cards
• Dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n support
• GPS with A-GPS connectivity; Digital compass
• 16GB internal storage, microSD slot
• Accelerometer, gyroscope and proximity sensor
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• Charging MHL microUSB port and TV-out (1080p) support
• Stereo Bluetooth v3.0
• Great audio quality
• Slim waistline at only 9.5mm and low weight (130g)
• 2MP secondary video-call camera
• Full Flash support and GPU-acceleration for the web browser permit 1080p flash video playback
• Document editor
• File manager comes preinstalled
• The richest video format support we have seen

Main disadvantages

• No dedicated camera key
• No NFC support out of the box (a future update should address this issue)
• WVGA screen resolution is not on par with the rest of the competition in this class

As you can probably notice above, the phone has more than one can possibly need in terms of sheer specs. The only major letdown we can think of is the WVGA resolution of the Skyrocket’s screen. At a time when HD screens begin to pop up with increasing frequency, we do believe that an Android flagship should be offering more than 800x480 pixels of resolution. The Super AMOLED Plus unit of the Skyrocket however, still trounces most of the competition with superior contrast and viewing angles.

source: gsmarena

Samsung Galaxy Young a.k.a S5360

The Samsung Galaxy Y is a smartphone approved for all audiences. Perhaps in hindsight, our Galaxy Note review should've been rated PG. But well yeah, we're always wiser in hindsight. Anyway, you don’t just wake up one morning wanting a superphone like the Note. You need a place to start.

The Samsung Galaxy Y is one little step above dumbphones. It won’t be long before you know how big this step really was. Android is friendly, especially in a package like the Galaxy Y, and highly addictive. And there's plenty to explore.

The Samsung Galaxy Y is most likely someone's first smartphone. It comes on the cheap so you don't have to ask yourself if you really need all the extra features. Soon enough, you'll be wondering how you could live without them.

And no, the Galaxy Y isn't full of the latest tech. It keeps things neat and simple at a very reasonable price. There's a good package of preinstalled apps and a full connectivity set. The reasonably fast processor and the very recent Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread are a bit of surprise. This is a basic smartphone but one that looks up-to-date.

Key Features

• Quad-Band GSM and dual-band 3G support
• 7.2 Mbps HSDPA
• 3” 256K-color QVGA TFT touchscreen
• ARMv6 830MHz processor, 290MB RAM
• Android OS v2.3.3 (Gingerbread) with TouchWiz UI
• 160MB of internal storage, hot-swappable MicroSD slot, 2GB card included
• 2MP fixed-focus camera with geotagging
• GPS receiver with A-GPS
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• 3.5mm audio jack
• Document viewer
• Accelerometer and proximity sensor
• Swype text input
• MicroUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth 2.1
• Social network integration

Main disadvantages

• Low screen resolution limits choice of apps
• No touchscreen haptics
• Fixed focus camera
• No secondary camera
• No camera flash, no dedicated camera key
• QVGA video recording @ 15fps
• No earphones in the bundle
• No Adobe Flash support

The Galaxy Y won't win any awards for innovation and performance but on the bright side, it does offer the full smartphone experience within budget. Aimed at the young and novice smartphone users, it focuses on the connectivity and good social skills. The screen resolution and sub-par imaging are the most prominent among the inevitable compromises.

Up-to-speed on Gingerbread

Despite being on the low end of Android, the Galaxy Y is quite up-to-date with Gingerbread 2.3.5. The topping of choice is Samsung's home-baked TouchWiz launcher and the result is quite good - the low resolution and limited screen estate aside.

Here's a video demo that will show you the whole thing in action:

Final words

Y stands for entry-level phones in the company's recent naming system. Phones for youths and emerging markets. The Galaxy Y is at the bottom of the Android food chain. It joins the likes of the Galaxy Mini, the Gio and the Fit at the wide base of a pyramid that eventually peaks in the next flagship.
There's a long way from the Galaxy Y to the company's top earners. It will appeal mostly to people who are new to the smartphone market and should rack up strong support for Samsung.
Android with TouchWiz and the package of preinstalled apps and services offer a more complete mobile experience to people coming from a feature phone. And that's available at a rock-bottom price. No, the Galaxy Y has nothing to offer to experienced smartphone users. It's the experience builder for the next generation of Samsung customers.
The company is taking the entry-level smartphone market seriously. The Galaxy Y joins a lineup of similar handsets. The Galaxy Mini offers a marginally better camera and slightly larger display. The Galaxy Fit boasts a 5 MP camera and bigger screen. However the Galaxy Y does offer the most recent release of Android Gingerbread and a higher-clocked 830Mhz CPU.

 
source : gsmarena