Samsung Galaxy Young

Introduction

Cheapo phones tend to struggle to get people excited. That may be why Samsung has chosen an aspirational title like “Young” for its latest, the Samsung Galaxy Young. What that forgets, of course, is that it’s only old fogies that clamour after youth – when these are perfect phones for those with plenty of pep in their veins still. However, forget the awkward name, attach the right price and this could be a winner.

Samsung Galaxy Young – Design and Features

The Samsung Galaxy Young looks almost indistinguishable from the scores of other lesser Samsung phones of recent years. It’s small, it’s a wee bit stubby and it has a curvy rear that cares more about feeling comfy in your hand than being tremendously slim.

At over 12mm thick, the Samsung Galaxy Young is carrying a bit of puppy fat – however we’ll grant Samsung that it is much easier to make a giant screen phone thin than a small one. The front and back of the phone are decked out in glossy white plastic – the Samsung staple that seems to have overtaken its former glossy black style.

The sides of the Samsung Galaxy Young are silver instead of white, though, which is another common Samsung motif. You’re probably starting to get the picture – this is a generico cookie-cutter Samsung phone, designed to shift boxes to those who like the sound of the Galaxy name, but not the sound of the Samsung Galaxy S3’s price.

Fair enough, we say.

Under the plastic battery cover you’ll find the standard microSD slot, to boost the 4GB of internal memory. You miss out on NFC, but otherwise almost every other wireless connection you could look for is here, including Wi-Fi hotspot creation and Wi-Fi Direct, as well as the all-but mandatory GPS, Wi-Fi and HSPA.

Samsung Galaxy Young – Screen

The screen is where the budget nature of the Samsung Galaxy Young shows most clearly. At 3.2 inches, it’s much smaller than the size we’re used to in phones. This is not necessarily a bad thing, though, especially if you think the obsession with super-giant 5-inch phones like the Sony Xperia Z is a little mad.

However, the display quality isn’t too great in the Galaxy Young. The specs aren’t dazzling – 320 by 480 pixels feels like a resolution from yesteryear – but it’s the panel itself that’s the problem. It’s an unmistakeably basic screen, lacking the great viewing angles of an IPS screen. This is the part of the phone that means it really needs to sell at a bargain basement price to be competitive.

Samsung Galaxy Young – Software and Performance

The Samsung Galaxy Young runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, with the TouchWiz UI laid on top. It’s a stripped-back version of the interface, made for lower-end devices, but maintains the same look you’ll see in phones like the Samsung Galaxy S3. The same icons, backgrounds and widgets are here. You just don’t get quite the array of gadgets that you’ll find in a top-end phone.

With a 1GHz single-core processor, any vaguely intensive apps and games will start to stutter on the Samsung Galaxy Young. Simple navigation of the UI isn’t completely lag-free, but then this is a phone that’s not aimed at the hyper-critical tech expert. It’s for the lower-end user that wants to do little more than check Facebook, make calls, send texts and play the odd game of Angry Birds.

Samsung Galaxy Young – Camera

Like the screen resolution and the single-core CPU, examining the Samsung Galaxy Young’s camera is like stepping back in time. It has a 3.2MP main sensor, without a flash. This is an extremely basic camera that we honestly wouldn’t even use to take snaps for Facebook. It’s a camera that’s there because every phone needs a camera these days.

There’s also a VGA-resolution user-facing camera. Will many Young buyers use it, though? Answers on a postcard, as we’re not sure they will.

Samsung Galaxy Young – Impressions

Few are likely to get too excited about the Samsung Galaxy Young, but this isn’t a device that’s a about getting gadget fans all hot and bothered. It’s there to wipe up those high street buyers that can’t stomach the price of the more expensive phones in the Samsung Galaxy series. If it doesn’t sell at a rock-bottom price, though, there will be far better options from more aggressive price-cutting phone makers like ZTE and Huawei.