Samsung Galaxy Y running on Android OS v2.3 aka Gingerbread can be titled as the one of the most affordable Android Smartphone in the market, by one of the leading handset manufacturer in the market – Samsung. Being the cheapest member of Samsung Galaxy Android Series is loaded with latest features too and has capability to compete with some mid range Android Smartphone too.
After using it for few day, I could not resist myself sharing my experience with the newly added member Samsung Galaxy Y. Basically meant for young generation, and that’s what Y means here.
Samsung Galaxy Y Review -
Design – A simple candy bar, normally sized, measuring 104 x 58 x 11.5 mm weighing 97.5 g is a decent Android Smartphone with a 3 inch TFT capacitive touchscreen display along with one hard brushed button in the middle, where the two touch button to each side, at the bottom. Where the top front display comprises the Samsung logo, ear-piece and don’t get confused with two sensors as a video calling camera. Power button to it’s right and a volume button to the other. Bottom houses the mouth-piece, where the top is contained by 3.5mm headset jack and the micro USB 2.0 port. Unfortunately microSD card slot is located beneath the battery. The all plastic body is quite well packed and durable too. Beneath lies the 2 MP camera with no flash along with a loud speaker. Nothing more to say about the design, but to me design is perfect.
Camera – Don’t expect a decent camera at this price range, the camera is only 2 MP(1600×1200 pixels), on top the low screen resolution add to it’s woes. The camera is a fixed focus too, though laden with great in-built features like Smile shot, Panorama shot, Geo-tagging. But if you are looking for a camera as a key feature in your phone, then this is not your cup of tea. In my opinion, camera might have survived but it’s the screen resolution which is accounting for the bad rating. Talking about video recording, Samsung Galaxy Y is capable of recording videos at QVGA@15fps.
Processor – It’s the 832MHz processor which makes it a good buy at this price range as it scores over some other mid-ranged Android Smartphone too. Quite faster processing power, great phone for web browsing especially on the Android OS v2.3.5 and a better performance at multi-tasking too. Switching between applications and gaming is all fine. Though, great performance by the processor, but if and only if you can manage that all on a small 3 inch display. But still a great add-on at this decent price tag.
Connectivity – Another plus point according to me, a full fledged device in terms of connectivity features. GPRS, EDGE, 3G at HSDPA, with download rates of up to 7.2 Mbps. Wi-Fi which can be used as a Wi-Fi hot-spot too. Along with the latest version of Bluetooth v3.0 with A2DP, HS and a microUSB v2.0. And a standard 3.5mm audio headset jack to house up every standard headphones of your choice. 5 out of 5 in terms of connectivity features at this price tag.
Display – 3 inch(240 x 320 pixels) TFT capacitive display which also respond to multi-touch too. But it’s the resolution, 256K colors, is a let down which adds negative points to the viewing experience, images captured by camera, hurts overall experience.
Memory – 160 MB internal storage, 290 MB user available RAM is enough to carry on your tasks with a seamless flow. To carry over your personal files, media content 2 GB micro SD card is included in the package which can be further expanded to 32 GB.
Audio/Video Quality – The audio quality of the device is up to the mark considering the price range, much better than it’s competitors in the same family. A better pair of headphones will beautify your music listening experience. Coming to the video quality, the video player itself is a pretty basic with a progress bar along with play/pause button and forward/rewind buttons, smartphone manage well enough to play 3GP and MP4 videos. In fact, it only supports 3GP and MP4 video playback. Good audio quality but video quality is another let down due to low screen resolution.
Power House – 1200mAh Li-ion standard battery is what you got to power it up, enough power to carry on the device to a day or two with the normal usage. Battery provides Stand-by time up to up to 850 h on 2G and 540 h on 3G. Talk-time obviously a bit lower than that, the specification says up to 17 h on 2G and up to 6 h 20 min on 3G. Pretty good battery backup to keep it going for a day or two.
What’s In The Box(Package) -
- Samsung Galaxy Y handset
- Li-ion battery 1200mAh
- User manual along with a Cd(Kies software)
- Charger
- microUSB cable
- 2 GB micro SD memory card
- Screen Protector
- Headset with microphone
Pros -
- Android OS v2.3.5 Gingerbread.
- 832 MHz Powerful Processor.
- Affordable Android Smartphone.
- Good Connectivity Features.
- Good Audio Quality.
- Good Battery Backup.
Cons -
- Low Screen Resolution.
- Bad Camera Quality.
- Lacks Secondary Camera.
- Fix Focus.
- No Flash Support.
Verdict – Considering the price tag, a good competitor to Samsung Galaxy Pop, Samsung Galaxy Fit and other Micro-Max or Dell based cheap Android Smartphone within the similar price range. Rather than going for them, I would recommend you to choose Samsung Galaxy Y S5360. A good device for the one who wants to enjoy a bite of Android Operating System, ahem, Android OS v2.3.5 aka Gingerbread. A good and branded device for the general audience. Not meant for a hardcore Android fans. If the basic camera and a bit of low screen resolution does not bother you, then this is the Smartphone especially made for you.
please let me know skype will run on this phone???
Hi, yes it supports Skype voice calling, but I can't assure you about the video calling as it lacks front facing video calling camera.
@amit sharma, have you made skype voice calls ??
Yeah Ashish, used it couple a times, but it’s really hard to use it comfortably. Any problems you are facing, please let me know?
ACE n Y have same processor i guess. I tried on friends cell. We heard each other but problem was with network. i am satisfied but. Airtel sucks. will try with some other network. Will defiantly let you know, you can try Viber in mean time its good n free also
Yeah network is mainly the reason for such problems, otherwise Samsung Galaxy Y is powerful and compact device and is capable enough to run Skype. It’s all about how strong our network is.
Yeah know about Viber, but I just used Skype few times and that too just for testing purposes.
Ya, still will let you know once i will use it
but i guess i will opt for Y duos. tc 
thank you for all replies. have a great time 
Samsung Galaxy Y duos is good, but I would recommend you to wait a bit, as in March or by April, there’s going to be a great price drop of all these devices.
Are you sure about it Amit? i am about to buy cell today that also for my GF. if you are sure then i will wait.
Hey Ashish, if you can wait, that’s better. But with time, chances are there that your preference will change, as no one knows how the Smartphone trends is moving. Probability is there, that in future you may not find Samsung Galaxy Y as a worthy Gadget to buy when as compared to some new competitor.
If you really can’t, then Samsung Galaxy Y is the only budget Android Smartphone with powerful features, as you know that well.
So please stress a bit and proceed.
Do share your decision with us.
Amit Sharma,
Sorry, i brought cell already. Couldn’t wait due to some reasons. it works fine, skype testing is going on, will post here as soon as i will get report. One more thing. If i want to update OS from 2.3.5 to 2.3.6 then will phone get reboot? all software will lost kya? and how to do it? which is convenient way to update ?
Hi Ashish, I hope you like the Samsung Galaxy Y.
Yeah before updating, create a backup of your details including your contacts, apps and other media content. Choose a backup related Apps, you will find lots of them in the Android Market.
Use Samsung Kies to update it.
Backup is necessary as all your content will be removed after the upgrade..so proceed after creating a backup.
Thank you amit for Reply again. Their was no need of back up or update as its OS is already 2.3.6(please let me know if advance OS is available). Actually, i gifted my GF Galaxy Y just for Skype. but sadly, its not working well yet, it has OS 2.3.6. but also thing to be consider is network provider, as she facing aritel network problem. since long time ago, so now trying with other newtork. will let you know as i will get result. hope it works
.
Eventually we manage to talk few times n voice quality was so good, but call got dis-connected, n never got established again.
Please Amit, suggest me something technically if i am missing something.
thank you again.
Yeah, Gingerbread 2.3.6 is the latest for Samsung Galaxy Y, but be sure to backup your essentials before updating it in future. You’ll be notified if there’s any update for the device. See, if the network is strong, then Skype will surely work, its all depend on network.
All test have been done, N YES, SKYPE WORKS WELL WITH GALAXY Y. NO DOUBT,
those who face this problem should check their operator service network.
I guess OS should be 2.3.6. And good internet. Even Airtel networks sucks in the area i tested Skype. but still it worked. i talked for 2Hr. 17 mints with no problem.
However, sometimes it gets disconnected, n get impossible to call back. so i changed network provider to BSNL, which works very good there.
Happy with handy, at 7K, its worth.
enjoy 
I tank again Amit Sharma for guidance. It was really nice experience with you dear. Have a great time.
Thanks for sharing your experience Ashish, happy to hear that it worked out for you. Enjoy
How can i increase downloading speed today i bought this phone i just got 2kbps speed . Is it required to clear ram every time? Here no 3g network .
How bad the screen resolution is?
The Screen resolution is not that good, you won’t be able to enjoy videos to it’s fullest, rest it won’t bother you with any other issues.
This phone able to upgrade according to latest versions and possible for VOIP calls like NOKIA,
Please answer me.
Yes Raj, if the smartphone hardware and RAM and other specifications allows, it can be up-gradable to latest version. By the way, Samsung already, is providing the latest Android OS Gingerbread pre-installed in this phone.(they’ve done what they can)
And yes you can use this phone for VOIP calls too. Skype can be used on it or any other similar apps you prefer to use.
pls let me know whatsAp and viber run on this phone ?????
Yes Smart-e, both the Android apps works fine on Samsung Galaxy Y, provided the internet connection is good.
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what is the response of samsung galaxy y s5360 with 16 gb external card. I know it support upto 32 gb but dont want to slow it down by using high external memory. so want to know how it work with 16 gb. and which brand is best to buy for Micro sd card.
Hi Sumit, as the phone is pretty powerful to run 32 GB of micro SD card, so there’s no harm in using half of it i.e. 16 GB. Don’t forget, the phone has got powerful processor, it won’t slow down.
And as far as I know, either choose microSD cards from SanDisk or Transcend.
Which network works best for samsung galaxy y..?
Well, it depends upon your location and the network dominating the region..so there’s no perfect answer for that. Choose what dominates in your region.
I also suggest to use WCDMA, as it has best speed, (If your region have 3G). Dont use GSM. If you wont get network after opting WCDMA, it means you dont have 3G network in your area.
I got best results with BSNL in Maharastra.
Thanks for the quick tip Ashish.
Hi amit, nice piece of review! wen i checked out the specs I found this has quick office viewer..does that mean it can open only ms office like ppt, word, excel and not pdf?? is there a pdf reader in this?? and does it play flash??
expecting ur reply on this eagerly
thanks.
Hi Gopal, Yes it has pre-bundled Quick Office Viewer Android app which allows you to view Word, Excel Sheets, Powerpoint slides and PDF files too. You cannot edit above mentioned files.
And unfortunately, Samsung Galaxy Y does not support Flash.
hi thanks for prompt reply…is there any model of this price range that has a good wifi b/g/n, similar processor, doc editor and that plays flash ?? ready to compromise on camera…
Gopal, its hard to find a smartphone which fulfills all your needs. There’s no such device within the similar price range which offers you a Doc Editor and a Flash support.
does a 16gb memory card work without problems in galaxy y……??
Hi, Yes 16 GB micro SD card works great on Samsung Galaxy Y. You can even use 32 GB micro SD card too, as it’s expandable up to 32 GB.
There’s no problem, no lag, it works smooth.
helo sir Samsung s5360 Ke 3g Fesility Unda
Hi Lakshmi, Yes Samsung Galaxy Y S5360 have 3G facility.
one thing i want to mention that i once use option of “scan” but then also i switch off my cell several times,
problem still reappears 
Hi Ashish, I can understand your problem. I would recommend you to factory reset it.
If still problem persists, then please take it to the service center, nearby.
Now new problem
to reset, cell asking to delete samsung account, i am deleting it but it dost not accept password. 
what to do ?
Hi Ashish, take it to the nearest service center to resolve the issue.
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