Samsung Galaxy Y Review
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Review: November 2011 |
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Phone rating: 
In a nutshell: The Samsung Galaxy
Y is a bargain basement Android phone. With the latest Android
2.3 and a decent 800MHz processor on board, the Y has plenty
of potential, but the too-small LCD display, terrible camera
and built-not-to-last feel make it a poor choice.
Best buy: *Free* with free line rental from Dialaphone
(Black) or Dialaphone
(White); or on pay as you go for £59.95 from the
Carphone
Warehouse (Black).
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While the iPhone 4S and Samsung
Galaxy S2 superphones grab the limelight, there's still a huge market for
a budget smartphone that isn't a complete disappointment. Because, sadly, smartphones
that cost less than £100 tend to be a letdown. Too many corners are cut
in the rush to shed the pounds. Yet Samsung keep trying, because a low-cost
compact smartphone that worked would be a cool thing.
The Galaxy Mini has probably been Samsung's
most successful effort in this price bracket so far. We complained that the
Mini wasn't really that small, so it's nice to see that the Galaxy Y really
is tiny. It runs the latest version of Android (2.3, Gingerbread) plus Samsung's
TouchWiz user interface, making it an easy yet powerful phone to use. The capacitive
display is responsive, though at 2.8 inches, it's too small for comfort. With
an 800MHz processor, the phone responds very rapidly too.
So the Galaxy Y gives you the power of the latest Android operating system
in a tiny, lightweight and cheap package. As an entry-level Android phone, it
has the advantage of running Gingerbread and having a fast processor. Sadly,
that's where the good stuff ends. Because far too many corners have been cut
here. The screen is too small to be of much use. The camera is awful. Google
Maps and the web browser are uncomfortable on the tiny display. There isn't
enough memory onboard and generally everything is too hard to do.
So, our verdict is give this one a miss and choose the Galaxy
Mini or Galaxy Fit instead. If you
have a few more pennies to spend you could try the Galaxy
Ace.
Features of the Samsung Galaxy Y include:
- 2 megapixel camera
- Video recording (QVGA, 30 frames/second)
- Display: 240 x 320 pixel (2.8 inches) capacitive touchscreen with auto-rotate
- Music player
- Stereo FM radio RDS
- MP3 ringtones / 64-voice polyphonic ringtones
- Messaging: SMS, MMS, instant messaging, email
- GPS with Google Maps
- Personal organiser functions
- Memory: microSD memory card (up to 32GB supported)
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, USB 2.0, 3.5mm audio jack
- Internet: Android browser, GPRS, EDGE, 3G, HSDPA
- Quadband GSM (850/900/1800/1900), dual band 3G (900/2100)
- Size: 104 x 58 x 11.5 mm
- Weight: 98g
Samsung Galaxy Y User Reviews
Love your mobile? Hate it? Please share your experiences to help other
people choose the phone that's best for them. Please do not review this
phone if you have not used it. This is a review site, not a forum, so
please don't just ask questions. Please do not use swear words or offensive
language, and please, no advertising!
Average rating from 25 reviews:
Reviewed by Fernando from UK on 1st May 2013
How anyone can rate this phone is beyond me!
It constantly hangs, even worst, you don't know it has stopped working
because the screen looks OK but no calls will get through.It's only
when you try to make a call and can't that that you realise the phone
is not working and you have to switch it off and on again so that it
works again. No good at all if you want any reliability. Most of the
other features are terrible too--the touch screen is misaligned so when
you press a number or letter the wrong number or letter appears, the
signal is awful compare to an old Nokia and an old Sony phone in exactly
the same location.
Amazingly, the sat navs works OK and the voice recognition is not too
bad. But for making and receiving calls you are better off with two
tin cans.
Rating:  Reply
Reviewed by miguel from England on 20th Jan 2013
this is a good phone i recommend to anyone because u can gave lots of
apps on it like twitter ,whatsapp favebook.its good for sociql networking
and those who like to chat and you can get lots of fun games on it like
hill climb racing. The camera is not that bad but i dont mind cuz i
dont take pictures often. tge battery is good for a android,my dads
htc only last for like 4 hrs.but if im on this one heavily it should
last me a day. i still have 20/25% left but if im onit like to text
and play and a bit of games it should be 40/60% its very good
Rating: 
Reply
Reviewed by Filthy Herbert from UK on 22nd Oct
2012
What a bunch of moaning Tards on here, the phone is perfectly fine and
very useable
Rating:
Reply
Reply by Fernando from UK on 1st May
2013
Actually, no it's not. It's pretty much the worst phone I have had.
Reviewed by Catinthehat from UK on 2nd Oct 2012
My daughter who has just started secondary school really loves this
phone and it does everything she needs and more. One word of advice
and this probably goes for all android smartphones- do yourself a favour
and download a free app called Lookout/Plan B from the Google apps store.
She lost her phone at school and we managed to download this app remotely
to her phone as she had linked the phone to her google mail account.
We were able to track the phone to a specific address in the town we
lived in thanks to the GPS capacity- you just text the word 'locate'
to the phone and your email address will get emails locating the phone
to a googlemaps address sometimes down to as specific as 5 meter radius.
We sent this information to the school and hey presto the phone reappeared
and was handed in. There are lots of interesting similar stories on
the Lookout/Plan
B website.
The app does not work with some more recent Android updates but it worked
fine with this phone.
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by phil cain from iom on 6th Aug 2012
Was ditched with this piece of worthless trash when my Galaxy S II was
sent away. I can only hope this one breaks also! P.s. typing is a mission!
Also, the terrible excuse of a camera (2MP) needs to be noted, it's
worse than the camera of a Nokia 6303
Rating: 
Reply
Reviewed by vicky from UK on 14th May 2012
This is the worst phone . I hate it. Its slow and old . Does not pick
up reception , impossible to type on. Do not get it.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by planetlaxy2012 from United Kingdom on
10th May 2012
The phone is really small and easy to use and the battery lasts longer
than an iphone but it starts to get boring quickly and it is not compatible
with all of the apps on android!
The price is good though and it does all the basic things that the other
galaxy's do so if you dont want to spend much but want a samsung galaxy
then its worth it! get the white one!
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by Andrew from USA on 25th Mar 2012
The phone is small and cheap.incredible phone.for me, it is like the
phone of the month.at last 2012,i want to go to sony ericsson xperia
mini 2(if i can).
Rating: 
Reply
Reviewed by becki from u.k on 11th Feb 2012
terrible phone, the worst i've ever used. very unresponsive touch screen,
took 45 mins just to enter pin code to get it working. returned to vodafone!
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by aqeel from saudi arab on 3rd Feb 2012
.fbk files not supported. how can i read fbk files.very nice phone.
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by M Said from Libya on 22nd Jan 2012
This is a nice phone for such a Price, it works just fine with all the
fun of Android OS
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by 12345 from northern ireland on 20th
Jan 2012
good phone in general but lose o2 uk reception a couple of times in
derry
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by Yousuf from Sweden on 18th Jan 2012
Great phone the camera is 2mp but is good. The samsung galaxy y is fast
and has android 2.3.5 but you can upgrade it to 2.3.6. Some of the apps
that are pre installed are google maps android market social hub and
youtube. You can download many cool apps from the android markt and
samsung apps. Its perfect.
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by Hamish from Dalkeith, Scotland on
16th Jan 2012
Its a great phone, fits nicely in my hand and the camera has really
good smoothing, for a 2MP camera. Quite fast aswell and I got mine for
£79.99 in the O2 January Sales whereas at other shops it would be £80.99!
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by Jos from Sweden on 27th Dec 2011
I bought a galaxy Y along with my father who also has one. They work
good, but they turn off/restart themselves whenever they feel like it.
I always manage my apps with task killer and my father doesn't really
have many apps at all, and the battery is always good. You can't call
the cellphone when has restarted itself because you have to write your
pin code. It's not fun when you have to set an alarm and the phone turns
off itself when you're asleep... Anyone who knows how to fix it?
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by gary from philippines on 22nd Dec
2011
if you are having problem with you galaxy y, all you have to do is update
it. with the supplied samsung kies cd, install it on your laptop/computer
and then plug your galaxy y with the supplied usb cable. google and
samsung already release the updates, text will increase in size, camera
will be better, some icons will be different, wi-fi will go on stand-by
when not needed even when left on. battery last longer,,, etc etc,,
plenty of improvements. you just need to update the phone.. no problem
what so ever i experienced with this phone, for everyday use, this galaxy
phone will serve you well.
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by Jay from India on 19th Dec 2011
Hi,friend this phone have excellent effortable price and {other existings
features etc} so my first dream is to buy this Andriod mobile phond
from Samsung Galaxy Y.
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by neeraj from india on 11th Dec 2011
Good phone but price is so much along with its future it shoud be Rs4500
. It is best for it
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Yusuf from North Cyprus on 7th Dec
2011
I have bought my galaxy Y in London in Nov 2011, when I was there for
WTM event. Now I'm using it in North Cyprus. There is a problem with
my phone; It shuts down itself after I ended my calls. I have to re
enter pin code to turn it on again. I is boring. It is a nice phone,
and I don't want to change it. But there is no registered service here
and I couldn't find any solution yet. I wonder why the sellers or main
service team don't find a solution for international users. Couldn't
they help through internet. I heard same problem from different users
abroad but I couldn't find how they solved this problem.
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by KP Chandrashekar from India on 27th
Nov 2011
Orsam, i love samsung phone's since( 6) years when i started use the
right now i am using samsung" Y" next i wanted to go for samsung Ace.
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by RAY BERRY from ENGLAND on 26th Nov
2011
Galaxy y is useless. Only bought it to use as a phone BUT charged battery
runs out and not even used the phone, needs charging every day. WHY?????
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Bob from UK on 24th Nov 2011
Absolutely the worst samsung I ever bought.Going back to Nokia ASAP.
The touch screen has a mind of its own, This phone has put me off samsung
for life..........
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Lewis from UK on 17th Nov 2011
Update to the Galaxy Y. What a very cheap nasty phone. GRRRRRRRRRR.
Got to the point where I went and got the Galaxy Ace. I returned that
due to very poor build quality. Come on samsung. No have the HTC Wildfire
S. I liked the other HTCs I've had in the past. Even the Wildfire had
great build quality. Sorry Samsung but 1 star as I can't give zero stars.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Lewis from UK on 16th Nov 2011
Just got this galaxy y today after i dropped iphone 3gs yesterday. Due
for an upgrade in Feb anyway so just needed cheap phone to see me through
next months. I've had android devices before but only HTC and tried
the galaxy pro for a few days. Anyway, back to the galaxy y. No idea
what battery life is like yet but this version of android (2.3) is far
better than 2.1 which my other phones ran. Setup to how i like it in
np matter of time. Build quality is ok as a cheap phone goes. A plastic
screen won't break like my 3gs did. A decent case might help the device
feel better. The screen is a little on the small side for big thumbs
but auto correction does help once half the settings like swype are
turned off. Email and texting work ok. Phone calls ok so far. It's a
cheap android phone, nothing fancy bit it does make me want a better
range galaxy though.
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by subhasish from india on 14th Nov 2011
Very nice phone.
Rating:
Reply
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