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