Samsung Galaxy Spica GT-i5700 Android Mobile Phone

[Humberto]

Introduction

The Samsung GT-I5700 has acquired in recent weeks in the current term named "Spica" that comes in Metallic Black or Pure White color on the market and is starting at 220th - € (without contract, shipping and depending on the provider). For the invested money by the buyer - a modern, chic phone receives a discreet design. Rich in features distinguish this with Android 1.5 (the Spica is also ready for Android 2.0) current mobile Phone. Features are a 800 Mhz processor, a 3.2 inch display, HSDPA, a playback control for DivX movies, an integrated GPS receiver and a 3.2 MP camera and various other features, including direct access to YouTube, Facebook, My Space and Google Maps. The Market Place for Android can be adapted by Galaxy downloaded applications on the personal lifestyle. In total it is remarkable to know that how much Android-based mobile phones have now become established - in the U.S. they already have a sizeable market share. So, we will see in our test here, whether the Samsung Galaxy Spica is as powerful business and multimedia companion for daily life or not.

Differences to "normal" Samsung i5700 Galaxy

• Powerful processor with Spica, now with 800 MHz
• The Spica is Android 2.0 ready, while you cant do with the "normal" Galaxy of 1.5, even if 2.0 will be available.
• The Spica is missing an LED flash
• The Spica has a 5MP instead of just a 3.2 MP camera
• The Spica has no AMOLED display, but a normal TFT screen
• There are two new key - one for the browser-Direct, and a Home button
• Matt instead of glossy back
• HSDPA 7.2 instead of HSDPA 3.6

Processing Features

1. First impression of optical / special features to support the design - Timeless, simple design.

2. Housing material / surface quality - Slightly rubberized plastic.

3. Housing Dimensions - With a weight of 124 grams and dimensions of 116 x 56 x 13.2 mm it fits comfortably in your hand and can be stored more easily in almost any pocket.

4. Goodness (sharpness / resolution) of the display - 3.2 inch TFT-LCD display with 65,536 colors and a resolution of 320 x 480 pixels. Great color and sharp - but no AMOLED display. In absolute terms, the Spica display is neat. It has the brilliant standard with AMOLED display deeper black but used only once, which is less intensive and high-contrast display of the supposedly Spica sallow color with a real step backwards.

5. Implementation of the folding or sliding - NA.

6. Quality of the battery compartment lid - The battery compartment cover is made up of plastic, can be opened quite easily, closed, and sits perfectly.

7. Quality and scope of the included accessories - USB cable, software, user manual, headset, charger, 1 GB Micro SD Card with Adapter.

8. Processing Results - The modern touch screen Samsung Galaxy Spica phone consists of matte and slightly rubberized plastic and is glossy. It lies with its dimensions and the acceptable weight well in hand. Colors and shapes are well on the display, although not too much outstanding. The accurately fitting battery cover is made of plastic and scores for the Galaxy Spica. The accessory is to be designated by the addition of the 1 GB memory card with adapter as an orderly.

Back of the Samsung Galaxy Spica GT-i5700 Mobile Phone


The battery compartment cover is made up of slight rubberized plastic and fits perfectly


The rule-Quiet button


Micro SD cards up to 32GB are accepted by the Galaxy Spica - to the side under the battery compartment cover, it is inserted

[Humberto]

Business Features

1. Supported networks - Quadband, GSM / GPRS / EDGE: 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz.

2. Data transfer - HSDPA (unfortunately only 3.6 Mbit / s - in this price range really 7.2 Mbit / s should go), Bluetooth 2.1, Bluetooth ® with stereo audio streaming (A2DP), WCDMA, WLAN, WAP 2.0, EDGE, GPRS Class 12 , UMTS.

3. Reception and voice quality - Even in poorer coverage the Galaxy Spica can score points with a good reception quality. The vocal sounds playback at normal volume minimally covered, but still real.

4. Voice quality of the speaker - The playback of the voice is acceptable at low volumes. Traversed at higher but with considerable noise.

5. Battery life (with normal use) - Max. 3 days.

6. Storage capabilities of Contacts - Add a picture, First and last, phone: Mobile, Home, Office, Other, Email: Home, Office, Other, chat addresses: Google (IN name), AIM (IM name), Yahoo (IM name), Windows (IM name), Jabber (IM Name); postal address: Home, Office, Other; organizations: office (company, position), other (company, position); Memos: My note, group ringtone, incoming calls.

7. Profile - Silent mode, ringing volume, media volume, phone ringtone, phone vibration, ringtone for notifications, audible key tones, vibration, Audible selection, SD card alert.

8. Calendar settings - View: Agenda, Day, Week, a new event: What: Event Name, From: Date / Time, To: Date / Time: every day: on / off; Where: Location Description: Event description, calendar: Default, Repeat: A unique event , Daily, every weekday (Mon-Fri), Weekly (every Tuesday), monthly (every second Tuesday), monthly (day 13), year (13 April); memories: 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes , 25 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours, 12 hours, 24 hours, 2 days, 1 week, save, discard changes; Today, Options: Own Calendar, Settings: display setting for Calendar: Rejected events, and settings for alarms: alerts and notifications: Notifications, status line message, Off; assign ring tone, vibrate: on / off, Set, Standard memory: 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, 25 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 1 hour, two hours, 3 hours, 12 hours, 24 hours, 2 days, 1 week.

9. Notes feature - NA.

10. Built-in voice recorder (dictaphone) - NA.

11. E-mail functionality - Connection Type: SMTP, POP3 and IMAP4. Setting the email account is done without any problems. The downloading of the settings takes no time and emails can be accessed and downloaded quite fast. In addition, the presentation is clear.

12. Internet functionality - Even fairly elaborate side represents the Galaxy Spica with clear display. It takes little time to load each page. Zooming through additional buttons are very easy to read. With integration into wireless, the speed can be increased. Overall, the fast processor in all circumstances here makes positive impact.

13. PC synchronization - The Galaxy Spica is easily recognized as a mass storage device. The software and the accompanying USB cable are included. To quickly share files, nothing more is necessary. Unlike when synchronizing contacts, appointments, etc. - this one comes with Outlook which is not far away. But you must also be registered with Google and you must log in to sync contacts with Gmail.

14. Other features - Shortcuts on: Facebook, Gmail, Google Maps, Google Talk, My Space, You Tube, Market, calculator, alarm clock, Java ME apps, built-in GPS receiver.

15. Business Results - The quad band mobile phone provides EDGE, HSUPA, HSDPA and Bluetooth, and a fast processor for quick and easy data transfer. 2 to max. 3 days battery life for a phone with this equipment is perfectly acceptable. Calendar and contact functions can only be fully utilized in building a Google Account. A voice recorder is currently not integrated. Even simple note features are not found in the Galaxy Spica. The email account is easily set and retrieving the mails with attachments is done through very quickly. Websites are found quickly. Together with a good representation and all of these are also big plus points for the Galaxy. Additionally, the Galaxy Spica offers offers seamless connectivity with access to Google mobile services and popular social network sites, such as Facebook and MySpace.

USB and headset connector

[Humberto]

Multimedia Features

1. Camera-Video Equipment - Switch to camera / video, gallery; Settings: General Settings: Save location in pictures / images on site include: on / off, Video Quality: Low, High; camera night mode: on / off; Finishing options: Share via: Email, Facebook, Gmail, My Space, message, delete, Picasa; slideshow, turning: to the left, turn right, cutting, options: Set as: Set as: background image, contact Symbol; Details: size, resolution recording date; gallery settings: screen size (confirmed by pictures and videos): Big, little, sort order: Latest First, delete Recent modified;: on / off; slideshow settings: slide show interval: 2 seconds, 3 seconds 4 seconds; slideshow transition: Fade -Hide, move from left to right, from bottom to move up, repeat, random selection; Slideshow: on / play back, slides randomly: on / off. Android under 2.0 are to be added with more options.

2. Photo Quality - The camera can be used only if a memory card is inserted. In daylight and normal lighting conditions the 3.2 MP camera of the Galaxy Spica gives good results. We recommend that the Spica should be in any case kept quiet while you click photos. Unfortunately, the shutter lag takes a bit of time. In the darkness, the camera scores no points because no flash and night mode exists which is not sufficient to differentiate motives. For something, in somewhat light one can see only shadows and minimal outline of the subject.

3. Video Quality - In normal lighting conditions, the video camera are still usable, but with somewhat pale and slightly blurry video clips. If we make movements pixels veil are clearly visible. In the night you can unfortunately get no useful results, as no video light is available in white balance and night mode does nothing.

4. Facilities to built in music player - Forward, rewind, pause, stop, artists, albums, songs, playlists; Library, Party Shuffle Add to playlist use as a ringtone, delete, repetition: repeat actual song, Repeat is off, repeat all songs, playing is: Random on / off, save as a playlist, delete playlist.

5. Sound quality of the music player - The speaker of the mobile phone was positioned on the back. This prevents it not to present the songs well. Thanks to DNSe 2.0 ™ for optimal sound reproduction, you can hear clear differences, even if it is turn around. The Galaxy Spica with the headsets on gives a lively, balanced sound.

6. Radio present yes / no, sound quality, Radio - NA.

7. Memory Storage - 180 MB of dynamic memory, expandable to 32 GB.

8. Multimedia Results - The camera equipment, which is by the touch operation, is easy to use, has no additional settings. The quality of the results are good for the 3.2 MP camera. But as no flash is integrated, images obtained in the dark gives no result. Very clear and easily one can make use of the built-in Music Player. Playlists are generated quickly and easily. A radio unfortunately is not integrated in the Samsung Galaxy Spica. The Spica has low 180 MB internal memory and is equipped with Micro SD cards, easily expandable to 32 GB.

3.2 MP camera of Samsung Galaxy Spica


The stereo headset sounds pretty good

[Humberto]

Handling / Menus

1. One-hand operation of the main functions possible - Yes, partially.

2. Call execute (with the menu item "Contacts") - Only when a Google account has been established, the contact can be synchronized. After running the "call" it is relatively done with ease.

3. Adding / Creating / editing contacts - Contacts can be edited easily and created or added.

4. Readability of the display - At day and night one can easily read the display. In direct sunlight or exposure to light, however, there is limitations as will, for many other mobile phone, in department.

5. Response of the touch screen - The response of the touch screen goes away evenly, fast and very precise. Switching from portrait to landscape could be a little more rapid.

6. Handling the navigation elements to prospect the menus - The navigation key allows also an easy prospect for menu items when you would like to work with the touchscreen.

7. Clarity of the menus - The menu icons are arranged clearly and are visible.

8. Extent of the menus - The menu range is equipped with enough points, for lovers of the Android-running entirely on handling problems. New beginners will have to cope up as the scope seems somewhat unusual.

9. The design of the menus - Beautiful graphic design with easily recognizable menu icons and timeless design from the Android platform. The background image under settings can be changed.

10. Opportunity for the assignment of shortcut keys - Relatively simple programs can be created as a speed dial as frequently used tools.

11. Message Handling - Subject: Add Subject; Annexes: contacts, calendar, pictures, take pictures, record videos, videos, record audio, audio, slide show, Insert smiley, add recipients, all threads, discard, select the locale (language and region select): Czech, Danish, German (Austria), German (Switzerland) German (Germany), Greek, English (Australia), English (United Kingdom), English (Ireland), English (United States), English (South Africa), Spanish, Finnish, French , Hungarian, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Swedish, Android Keyboard: Settings: Vibration when pressed, sound when pressed, Automatic, capitalization: on / off, display settings, word suggestions: proposals (proposals map in the input ), auto complete (Space and punctuation automatically add the highlighted added): on / off; Samsung Keyboard: Settings: Input method completion, Language: German, Dutch, Polish, French, CzechTourism, Spanish, Italian, Portugues, Word: a / from; Word completion point, spell correction: on / off; Next word prediction: on / off; Auto-append: on / off, auto sorrection: on / off; Regional correction: on / off; Recapture: on / off; T9 my words; T9 auto-substitution, Vibrate on keypress: on / off, sound on keypress: on / off, auto-capitalization: on / off, custom dictionary: words in the user manual add and remove, messages can easily be used by the QWERTY keyboard (if the mobile phone is turned around to be drafted).

12. Operating photo and video camera - The 3.2 MP photo / video camera is very easy to operate via touch screen. Setting is scarce.

13. Operation of Music Player - The music player is clearly designed and easy to use. A playlist is created quickly and the other settings can also be found easily.

14. Reading Memory - Micro SD cards up to 32GB can be read by Samsumng Galaxy Spica quickly, and existing data (where the format and file type possible) presented no problems.

15. Results - The handling of the Samsung Galaxy requires one or the other, certainly some time to adapt. If this could be over, it can be operated intuitively. Making a call, adding contacts, as well as the readability of the class outstanding displays speak for the Galaxy Spica. The operation via touchscreen runs precisely and smoothly. Even with the navigation key one can easily navigate the menu and select anything. The straight forward menu has crafted a reasonable extent. The simple operation of the photo / video camera, unfortunately has very little adjustment, the music player and an easy handling when writing messages, are further plus points for the Galaxy. In addition, with the Spica, memory cards of various sizes up to 32 GB, read quickly and easily, the data also reflects without any issues.

Keys on the Samsung Galaxy Spica


A landscape orientation and QWERTY keyboard

Overall conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy Spica offers a practical equipment starting at a market price of 220 - € (without a contract, shipping and depending on the provider). Its appearance in Metallic Black is timeless and modern. The 3.2 MP camera is very easy to use. However, the annoying little shutter lags. It delivers good results, as long as the vote in light conditions. The results of the video images can be described as useful, if one makes no faster movements, otherwise strong pixel clouds are visible. By night either video or photo dont achieve any visible results, since neither flash nor video is integrated, and very little is achieved. The internal music player has an easy to use equipment. Thanks to HSDPA, Wi-Fi integration, and fast 800MHz processor, internet is loaded fairly quickly and display is also excellent. Also emails with attachments can be downloaded without difficulty and are easy to read. The operation via touchscreen runs as usual from Samsung and very accurate. Additionally, you can expand the programs on the Android Market ™. The Galaxy for one or other Android-lovers could be certainly true for business and for multimedia companion. Compared with the "normal" galaxy, the Spica is prepared for Android 2.0 that has many new feature in comparison.

Samsung Galaxy Spica Screenshot