Land of Droid 
Introduced to the world way back in February at MWC 2011 along with the Galaxy Ace, Galaxy Gio and Galaxy Mini, the Samsung Galaxy Fit is billed to be “The Right Fit For You”. Exactly what “The Right Fit For You” mean we are still unsure but hope to become more enlightened as we progress through this review.
Where to Purchase:
- Phones4U
Price:
- £99.95
Phones in Category:
- HTC Wildfire S @ £170
- HTC Salsa @ £192
Specifications:
- GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
- HSDPA 900 / 2100
- 110.2 x 61.2 x 12.6 mm
- 108 g
- TFT capacitive touchscreen | 65K colours
- 240 x 320 pixels | 3.3 inches (121 ppi pixel density)
- 5 MP | 2560х1920 pixels | autofocus
- QVGA@15fps Video Recording
- Android 2.2.1
- 600 MHz Qualcomm processor
- Li-Ion 1350 mAh Battery
The Good:
- Sleek Looking Design
- Charge / Sync Slot Design
- Weight
- Price
The Bad:
- Screen Resolution
- Bulky Width
- Menu System
- Location of Charge / Sync Slot
In The Box:
- Samsung GT-S5670 Handset
- 3 Pin UK Charging Adapter
- USB to Micro-USB Data Cable
- In Ear Earphones
- Various Leaflets / Pamphlets
Handset Tour:
- Front – Speaker Grill ~ 3.3 inch screen ~ Touch Based Menu / Back Buttons ~ Physical Home Button
- Back – 5MP Camera
- Top – Charge / Sync Port ~ 3.5mm Headphone Port
- Bottom – Microphone
- Left – Volume Up & Down Buttons ~ MicroSD Slot
- Right – Power / Standby Button
The Review:
When the handset arrived via courier last week and I opened the standard packaging to reveal a very small box I was firstly disappointed. Understandably the handsets that we review do the rounds a bit and sometimes have some heave use before getting through our doors however this handset had by far the most beaten up box I have ever received from a manufacturer, all I can say is “thank god the packaging aint part of my review (oh wait, it kinda is lol)”.
I’ve decided this time to skip the whole unboxing talk and move straight to setting the phone up (for obvious reasons). Removing the cover from the back of the handset is pretty much a 2 hand job, although there is a risen area on the back of the handset (which I showed you in the video overview) the cover is still pretty difficult to remove. After removing the back cover you are greeted with the back of the circuit board which is fairly unusual and aesthetically nice to look at. After inserting the sim card it was time to insert the battery…. this was rather strange as the 1350 mAh battery went into the handset upside down (not that it really matters though it is strange).
When I received the device it was running Android 2.2.1 though a quick jaunt to the Samsung website showed me that Gingerbread (2.3.4) was there and waiting for me to download. In attempt to give the phone some more life I did so and installed the Kies software to get the upgrade installed.
This was completely pain free, all the updates etc… where handled by the software following the install and I didn’t need to do a single thing to aid it along which just showed how good the Kies update service was…. until I had to use the software itself. Eugh, it is heavy, slow to respond and sluggish when dragging it around the screen. I know for a fact that this was not system related as I run a machine with 8GB of RAM on a Win 7 64 Bit Environment where no other programmes had the same issue. Please please please take a look at this Samsung, you just took all the goodness out of me saying how wonderful the package was by this fact.
The upsetting part of the Gingerbread upgrade for me was the removal of Swype as the default keyboard which was replaced by the standard Android keyboard.
Going through a typical Samsung boot animation (which I captured on video too), the phone took just 35 seconds to get to the unlock screen state which though it seems high is actually very low for an Android handset.
Normally this is the part where I would run through the non standard apps that are on the handset however there are just three, My Files, Samsung Apps and Social Hub, so I decided it was best to skip past this as for the target market they won’t be used too much.
Setting up the front screen with widgets was as usual pain free though I did notice that there were some applications (well widgets really) that weren’t found anywhere else on the phone in here such as the Program Monitor which, as the title suggests, is a system monitor that allows you to see and end running processes, manage packages, clear RAM and view a space summary. Personally I don’t get why this isn’t in the menu in the form of an application however it is what it is and I still like it.
The next thing I noticed when setting up the screen was just how many different variations of clock there where. With 3 different formats in there it’s hard to imagine why there is a need for so many though after thinking about it, they all have a purpose and actually all make sense. With me being a pedantic so and so I would have probably put them all into one widget and let the user choose which one they wanted rather than having 3 separate widgets.
The 5MP Camera comes with a number a great settings (which is why there are so many screenshots) though it’s sadly spoiled by the fact that there is not enough on board memory to handle taking photographs without having a memory card inserted and to be honest this is the first time I have reviewed or came across a handset that requires this.
Photo’s themselves, after inserting a microSD to store them on, are actually not too bad though it’s worth pointing out that the lack of having a flash means that this could never take the place of a regular camera on a night out as the camera just can’t handle low or poor light situations.
In terms of call quality, I really can’t fault the handset. Infact, it holds a signal in an area of my work which I normally, on o2, get absolutely no signal at all so this would be perfect if I were needing a work handset. If I could grumble about anything it would be the quality of the external speaker which like most handsets in this size range really struggles to be crisp and clear due to how loud it is. In it’s favour though it does have a proximity sensor which helps a lot when on an active call.
The biggest let down for me on this handset was the web browsing, the font is rather small due to the screen size however it’s also not very clear to read unless you zoom in to a high level.
Music:
The music player, much like the camera, needs the MicroSD card inserted before you can actually do anything on there. With the in ear earphones supplied the music is very clear and carries volume well which is unlike the Wildfire S handset.
Gaming:
If you stick to fairly low taxing games like Angry Birds then you should be good to go.
Final Thoughts:
After spending a week with this handset I have now worked out it’s target market and am still struggling to find out what the tag line for this handset means (“The Right Fit For You”).
If you want to buy your kid an Android phone where they can listen to music, check Facebook and play Angrybirds then this is the handset you need to go out and buy.
Don’t let the poor resolution for web browsing put you off as otherwise this handset is great, the build quality, design and more.
For the price of the handset you simply won’t get any better than this.
Reviewed by: John
