It's A Small Wonder - Samsung Galaxy W Review

Samsung has been aggressive with doling out Android smartphones as of late. In the last year alone, they have brought out phone after phone from their Galaxy line such as the Pro, the Ace, the Y, the S II, the Note, the Fit, the Mini, the S Plus, and a few others. And while we have yet to officially see the Galaxy Nexus (which is also made by Samsung), before the year ended, they have released the Galaxy W.

Just as the “Y” in the Galaxy Y pertains to Youth, the “W” in the name of the phone is for Wonder. Now, we at Techindustriya, would not stoop to such a level as to make corny jokes such as, “I wonder why they call this phone, the Wonder?” nor “Is this phone really that wonder-ful?” (Ok, maybe we would), but it really is a legitimate question. For a mid-range phone, is it really a cut above the rest in its range?

Looking at the specs, it would seem so. While the Galaxy W has a single-core Qualcomm processor, it is running at a blistering 1.4GHz. The speed increase compensates for the lack of another core processor. Using it, I noticed very few slowdowns and in those cases, I was pushing the phone pretty hard with numerous apps. This could mostly be due to the 512MB RAM onboard.

Out of the box, the Galaxy W comes with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). The OS helps in making the phone snappy. We just hope that the specs on the Wonder are adequate for the latest version, 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). Along with Gingerbread, the Galaxy W also comes with Samsung’s TouchWiz UI.

While the 3.7” touchscreen isn’t SuperAMOLED, the screen is still decently bright and pretty sharp with its 480×800 resolution. This is due to its compact 252ppi pixel density. The display still loses out outside on a particularly sunny day.

The rear-facing camera features a 5MP sensor with autofocus and LED flash. While the 5MP sensor seems decent specs-wise, the photos still have noticeable grain especially in low light. The camera is also able to record 720p30 videos. The front-facing camera isn’t that particularly of note with its VGA resolution. While this is so, it is suitable for video-chatting.

Connectivity-wise, the Galaxy W is fully packed with 3G, HSDPA and HSUPA, WiFi-N, Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP.

There are compromises with the Galaxy W. It is a mid-range phone after all. Internal storage is maxed at 2GBs with 1.7GB as usable. However, this is compensated by a microSD slot that will take up to 32GBs. As stated earlier, RAM is only 512MB. This is a problem with more intensive applications (games) and multiple open apps which will tend to stutter at times.

Overall, the Galaxy W is a pretty strong phone even with its compromises. Compared to other Android phones in its category, it is the one to recommend. The retail price, which is PhP16,000, is a bit on the high end for a mid-range smartphone but still worth them money. It is the fastest with its processor and decent display. Battery life is also average. With regular use, I was able to go without a charge for a whole day, which is around 10-12 hours.