Samsung GT-S5570 Galaxy Mini Android Phone User Review

March 18, 2011 · by Macky · in

I have this Android smart phone for the first time ever in my life for a month now. And to tell you, using this phone is just awesome. I keep discovering new features of Android everyday and I am loving it. Android by Google is one of the best OS cellphones out there in the market.

Pulse Reader application on my Android phone Samsung Galaxy mini. I like the user interface, especially it is showing the feeds of my site. hehe

So the phone model is the newly released model by Samsung, like it was just announced last January 2011. They called it Samsung Galaxy mini GT-S5570. It runs the Android 2.2 Froyo version. It supports Flash 10.1 which is why you can definitely watch Youtube videos on the phone. These are the key features of the phone:

  • Network & Data HDSPA 7.2Mbps/3G/EDGE/GPRS Class 12^
  • Operation System Android v2.2.1(Froyo)
  • Weight 108.8g
  • Display 65K Color TFT Full Touch Display, 240 x 320 pixel, 3.14″ capacitive touch screen
  • Camera Resolution 3.0 Mega-pixel
  • Video player H.263/H.264/MPEG4/WMV
  • Music Player MP3/AAC/AAC+/e-AAC+/AMR/MIDI/WAV
  • FM Radio Yes(RDS)
  • Messaging SMS / EMS / MMS
  • Connectivity Bluetooth # v2.1(A2DP/AVRCP), USB, WiFi
  • User Memory 160MB(Built-in)
  • Expandable Memory up to 32 GB
  • more features? go to http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_mini_s5570-3725.php

What are included in the box?

A closer look of the cellphone unit.

These are what included in the box. I forgot to include the charger.

The device is sealed in a small box. Inside the box are: 1 charger, 1 USB cable, the head set, 2GB Samsung micro SD card with the SD adapter, 1 copy of quick user guide, installer of KIES for PC syncing and the cellphone unit.

All I can say is…

The cellphone is cheaper (but it is not actually cheap though) compared to other Android devices in the market. I bought the unit for only PhP 9.6K and it was a good deal. In some stores, the unit costs around 10.2K I thought of buying the Samsung Galaxy 5 but my friend who went with me that time suggested me to buy this unit with only a difference of 800 pesos. Comparing Galaxy 5 and Galaxy Mini, I thought that the difference of 800 pesos made sense after all Galaxy Mini has more features compared to that of Galaxy 5. If you know what I mean…

The battery would last for more than 24 hours, at least 36 hours an average of my daily usage. I do not text and make calls a lot but I use the unit for surfing the net, playing games and playing music. The capacitive screen makes it easier for me to type the text. It is more convenient compared to typing on the actual keypads. I prefer using the numeric keypads in texting than the QWERTY keypads as I am used to it with my previous Nokia phones. So in this phone, you have an option to either select the QWERTY or numeric key pads.

The phone is not just for texting and calling but it is enriched with applications. Many thanks to all the Android developers out there. You can install many applications found in the Android market.

Because of this phone, there are things that I can already make it happen which are not so possible before. For example, I can control my laptop using my phone connected to the local WiFi. Before, I really need to sit in front of the laptop to navigate and play a movie or change music but now with my Android phone, I can lie down on my bed and with just a view taps on my the phone, I can definitely control the laptop and play a movie or change a music… while lying on the bed, I said that already. This is really helpful especially if you are tired. (I guess you can also do this with iPhone?)

The 3.0 megapixel camera is fine. Though having a camera button on the side part of the phone to take a picture would be more helpful rather than tapping a button on the touch screen.

Examples of the pictures taken using the phone camera:

Example of a panorama picture taken using the phone camera.

Example of a picture taken by the phone camera. In Panglao Island Nature Resort.

Example of a picture taken by the phone camera. In i2 Bldg IT Park Cebu City

SO the camera is not that bad. What do you think? Learning how to use Android could be not that friendly to some but I think that is just for the beginning… as you continually use the OS, you will learn to love Android. In my case, it took me one time 5 minutes on how to unlock the screen. And it also took me a day on how to manually lock the screen. Seriously. Like I said, I keep on discovering new features everyday. I did not know all about the QR codes before but now, thanks to this phone, I now have the opportunity to explore other technologies.

One I can think a negative side of this phone is the limited colors of the screen. It has only 65K colors which is very unlikely to most smart phones out there. Also, some applications would need to be forced closed especially when it is no longer responding. I always experience this when using the Android browser. Also there are times when I need to restart the phone to be able to connect to WiFi. Keep getting a WiFi error if the phone is not restarted.

Other than that, the phone is just awesome.

Screenshot pictures of the apps:

Watching Youtube.

Facebooking.

Using the Android Browser

Task Manager. Need to forced close an app

So guys what do you think of the phone? Please let me know and leave a comment. Thank you for reading.