Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 Review

Samsung released the Galaxy Grand last year as the decently priced large screen smartphone for the masses. The device also had an extra SIM slot which seems to be useful for a growing number of users these days. Galaxy Grand could not get as successful as the Galaxy Mega, with the screen size set at 5 inches. However, with the expansion in competition, this time around the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 needs to up its game to perform better, as there are plenty more smartphones in the market with large screens and price tags that are on the decent side.

Well, with the new smartphone, Samsung has entered a solid response on every account through the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2. The display size has been boosted by a quarter of an inch without any sizeable increase in weight, and the reduction of bezels, while increasing the resolution to 720p, raising the pixel density to 280ppi. There have been improvements to the designing, with faux leather at the back, stitched, and though the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 sticks to the same camera which was pretty decent, the processing has been improved. Another plus is the quad-core Cortex A7 chipset from Qualcomm.

The battery has also been raised by about 500mAh to 2,600mAh, to cater to the large display and better processer. Even the pricing has not been raised too much, to still make the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 pretty affordable.

While unboxing the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2, you will get everything inside the retail box that you need to get started with this phone.

• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 handset
• A A/C adapter with charging prong
• MicroUSB cable connector for A/C adapter for charging
• Earphones

The screen on the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 has been improved both in size and resolution, coming up to 5.25 inches containing 720p display at 1280 x 720 raises the display by nearly 100ppi. Since this makes the display only just below the Retina quality, this makes it the best improvement on the device. The quality is very good, though not as high as compared to the recently released Samsung Galaxy S5.

Though the contrast is close to average, the viewing angles are better, and the color rendering overall is very good. Still, the display has a high reflectivity rate, and legibility in sunlight suffers as a result.

Samsung has tried to manage design enhancements while staying with its own comfort zone, so that users do no find the device too different. The Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 has certainly grown taller, and has lost some waistline, and the superior look is also contributed by a reduction in the bezels. The back has the same slight curve, though the change in texture improves the feel.

The Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 has a finish that is similar to its recent flagship smartphone as well including the stitching, though it’s a lot harder this time around. The sides are also smooth, which is different than the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. The Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 has an improved look, and the increase in the size does not look awkward, which is always a good thing. Only it’s that the screen has lesser size below and over the screen. All the buttons, the controls on the front, the sensors, are all comfortable on the layout, and placed in their familiar places.

The buttons are placed right below the screen, with the Home button being the physical one, rather than a capacitive one. The task switcher is accessed by a press and hold of the Home button. On the top of the screen are the sensors, and the earpiece. At the bottom lies the MicroUSB 2.0 port along with the microphone, though the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 does not have a microphone for noise cancellation. The right side has the power/lock key, which is easily within reach. On the left side resides the volume rocker, while the top contains 3.5mm audio jack.

At the back lies the 8MP snapper, with the flash on one side and the speaker grille on the other. Under the back cover there is a removable battery, two slots for SIM, and one for the microSD card.

The Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 comes with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, with TouchWiz running support. The Galaxy Grand 2 is hopefully getting the bump up to KitKat, though there is no timeline. The device, however, even without the upgrades runs the UI smoothly, and the 720p display helps, of course.

The lockscreen has different panes, each with a widget – the one on the right is special and can be either a list of favorite apps, or a shortcut to camera. The homescreen is the standard Samsung display, with same pane switching. Notification area has the same layout too, the toggles on top, which can be swiped left or right to view more, or the full list can be seen by using a two-finger swipe down from the toggles in the notification area – press and hold on a toggle takes users to detailed settings related to the toggle. Then there is the brightness slider, a quick switch option to switch between active SIM, and list of notifications, with the option to clear all notifications on the click of a button.

Pinch zoom works standard, and the dragging of widgets on homescreen is the same as before. App drawer can be sorted with different options. Also, an interesting and sometimes very useful option to hide some shortcuts is included too – this is especially helpful for apps that cannot be uninstalled. App switcher displays all recent apps, from where any or all apps open in the background can be closed. The Task Manager and Google Now can also be accessed from here.

Google Now: The Google Now allows for voice commands, and can pull information from the Google, like the routine, searches, email, updates on interests as well as updates regarding traffic on regular routes, sports, news, weather forecasts etc. The Samsung assistant dubbed S Voice provides a fuller control over the device, is meant only for audio commands, like playing music, dictating text, opening apps, adding reminders, event scheduling, memo creation, alarm setting etc. and for responses to any questions asked.

Phonebook and Messaging: The phonebook and messaging are the same high powered apps that are generic to Samsung. There can be specific vibration patterns assigned to different contacts, and duplicate entries are prompted to be joined. The dual SIM option has a separate interface in settings, for labeling for easier identification, as well as basic settings like which SIM will be used for data connections etc.

Calling: Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 has improved its call quality and reception, to provide a loud and clear audio quality, even adding an equalizer for setting audio during call – from first-hand experience, we can assure you this improves the audio experience of the call reception. Video calls are present too. Smart Dial is implemented, which searches for both numbers and names as per the keys pressed for search, showing a shortlist just above the keypad and numbers display. S Voice also allows for voice dialing, activated by a double tap on Home screen, or alternatively, unlock the phone and say “Hi Galaxy”. Also, the call loudspeaker is very respectable in its performance, passing our speaker inquisition with pretty good grades.

Keyboard: The messaging has Swype implemented, while handwriting and Google Now can also help, as can S Voice. The keyboard has floating enabled for easier single-hand usage. Multimedia content can be added too.

Google Map: The Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 has the Google Maps and Navigation, with the standard features, though for some features like the standard implementation, data connectivity is required.

App Store: The Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 also has two app stores built in, the standard Google Play store along with the Samsung version, Samsung Apps, which contains Samsung specific apps.

Browsers: Samsung has come out with the standard Google Chrome browser, as well as the Android browser. Both allow for pinch zoom, double tap, two-finger tilt zoom, multiple tabs, have identical interfaces, both can sync bookmarks and tabs in different devices, and both have hidden modes, though Chrome can switch between tabs more handily. Pinching below the minimum automatically opens the tab mode. Chrome though, has the added benefit of syncing tabs across platforms, like computers, too. Chrome also takes guidance from Opera regarding its Turbo mode to improve browsing efficiency.

Samsung does not allow for all its custom apps to be open on the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2, still some apps are present here. The S Translator, for example, is a good addition for people who love to travel, and allows for direct translation from text, in addition to speech recognition. The audio can be used for both input and for speaking out the translation too. The S Planner is the calendar app, and can sync with the Google Calendar. The Trip Advisor, Dropbox and Flipboard apps are pre-installed on the smartphone too.

The Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 has the Polaris Office viewer, but the editing feature is not present. The viewer is not available from the app drawer, and opens up when relevant files are being accessed from the My Files app. The My Files app is the file explorer from Samsung, and provides the basic options like Folder creation / management, the cut, copy and paste, as well as other features.

The gallery for the Samsung Grand 2 can directly resize the thumbnails using the pinch zoom gesture, while also allowing for images to be seen in split screen modes, sort of like the preview panes in computers. The colors and the screen size enhance the image viewing experience, while the Adobe RGB screen takes color rendering perfection to an even further level. Image editing can be done directly from the gallery, which includes cropping, effects, writing notes, among others. Images can be viewed as a slideshow, with different transition effects, music and speed.

The Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 features the TouchWiz music player, with a ton of features, and is able to provide support for a lot of file formats. The sorting can be done by the usual options, like Artist, Album, etc. and in addition the Folder support allows for grouping files folder wise, making it easier to access. The DLNA allows for searching content on DLNA enabled devices nearby as well.

There are multiple audio enhancement options, like the SoundAlive equalizer preset, which is intelligent in managing the equalizer settings tailored to fit as per user likings. The balance is between Vocals and Instrumental, between Treble and Bass. Auto Toggle can also be used to adjust settings automatically. The equalizer has 7 bands, and caters to effects like Bass, Clarity, and 3D in addition to the equalizer settings. The Adapt sound option tests out the headphones performance, and tunes the equalizer for the best quality sound. Notifications area and lockscreen both display controls when player is open.

The FM radio is also present, with a simple interface and features. Again, the controls can be viewed from lockscreen and notification area. The audio from radio can be recorded too, which was interesting.

The video player displays the videos as thumbnails, though these are static rather than the animated ones on some higher end Samsung smartphones. The video player can handle files both available on the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 or DLNA devices. Subtitle search is also present and allows for selection from the list of available subtitles, and can be manually loaded to the video as well. Codec support, like the Samsung Galaxy S4, is not too good though, so users will have to install codecs for proper and issue free video play.

The Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 has two email clients, from which the first is specified for Gmail and the other looks for other email addresses configuration. All the basic options are present for the apps.

The Google Hangouts is the Google provided IM pit-stop, and offers video chats, photo exchange, enojis, history sync, and can handle SMS as well.

Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 sports the mid-range Snapdragon 400 chipset, with four Cortex-A7 CPU cores, backed by 1.5 GB RAM and Adreno 305 for graphics. The chipset has been seen in action on other devices like Moto G, so we can assume a good performer serving up the Galaxy Grand 2. The increase in RAM will easily be able to cater to the bump in resolution. The Android 4.3 Jelly Bean has worked pretty well with TouchWiz on the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2.

The processor cores provide a decent performance pretty close to their A9 counterparts, clocking in at 1.2 GHz, while using even lesser firepower. The single core performance is the same as other A7 powered smartphones. However, the multicore performance was almost lagging in this comparison, to many other Snapdragon 400 processor phones. The CPU performance though was on par with A7 powered smartphones.

The overall performance testing resulted in the information that the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2, while coming close to some Snapdragon 800 powered smartphones, still has about half the performance to some higher end smartphones featuring the Snapdragon 800 processor. In terms of display testing, the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 was ahead of all its counterparts sporting the Adreno 305. The display resolution was also a game changer to the competition.

Though the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 may not seem to be the high flying performer that most would have visualized it to be, it is not short on ammo by any stretch. The Snapdragon 400 provides a seamless and fluid performance for the HD display, videos and games. We believe that this is sufficient given the price range in which it resides.

Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 has an 8MP camera, which can take images of up to 3264 x 2448 pixels, supported by an LED flash for low light captures. The viewfinder can handle both videos and images, so switching between modes is no more required. However, this means that if the frame is set for full resolution 8MP photos, the video recording by default is 4:3.

The device has the standard modes, which include Panorama, Sports, and Night modes. The Panorama shots are full 360 degree, but does not have a very good resolution, though the detail is good, and the contrast and colors are also very nice. The Sound & Shot option is present with this shooter too, like with other recent Samsung releases, and this captures the image as well as records the ambient sound, and this is especially interesting for captures from places like a capture during a match, from the beach, on a race track, and such.

The images captured have a good amount of detail, and very little amount of noise, the contrast is good and the colors can be best described as punchy. The noise reduction may not function ideally on nature, like trees and grass, but otherwise it is almost perfect in performance. The details are very good in highlights too, without being too much, and the images still look real-life, rather than worked upon images.

For videos, Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 records in MP4 format, at a bitrate of 17Mbps on average, with audio at 122Kbps and sampling rate of 48kHz. Touch focus is also present, and can be used prior to and during the video recording. Also, 6MP images can be captured during recording as well, though they will be of same aspect ratio as the recording being done. The quality of such shots is very good, as the camera is of a higher resolution. The detail resolved in the videos is quite good, with very accurate color conversion, very little noise and pretty good level of contrast.

Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 has the usual bunch of connectivity features, with the basics including GSM, 3G and 4G connectivity present. The 3G has HSPA levels of 42Mbps down and 5.76Mbps up, while the 4G raises this to 100Mbps and 50Mbps respectively.

Support for Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi is available, though NFC is missing. Also, using the Wi-Fi Direct and utilizing the widely used Miracast protocols, the AllShare feature of Samsung, which is available with all default apps, the Galaxy Grand 2 allows for streaming content and display seamlessly and wirelessly to the stereo or HDTV.

Samsung Link allows for a cloud-like service for multimedia content on your Samsung Galaxy Grand 2, so that you can access the content on all your Samsung devices.

Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 has raised the battery to 2,600mAh, a jump of 500mAh. Samsung predicts that with 2 SIMs, the device can give up to 17 hours of talk time and 370 hours of standby. With our tests, the 3G talk time came very close to the 20 hours mark, and a pretty decent time of 9 hours for web browsing, while close to 9 hours for videos. However, with dual SIM functions, the Galaxy Grand 2 gave out 45 hours in endurance rating.

Apart from its improved user experience, and the other enhancements and improved battery life the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 has available, it does come with some shortcomings which are listed below:

• Internal memory is very limited at 5GB
• The device does not have Android KitKat built-in
• Sunlight legibility is poor
• The screen is above normal reflective

Samsung Galaxy Grand 2, with an increase of 100ppi on display, two cores for processing, a larger screen, better battery, LTE, and looking sharper and cooler, with an additional SIM slot – the Galaxy Grand 2 seems to have raised the bar set a bit on the lower side by the original Grand.

The increase on the screen this time around has resulted in the resolution upgrade. The battery raise also was nice, and Samsung has kept the same footprint as the predecessor. The processing power, now with two additional cores to support the initial dual core setup, better GPU, and RAM increase more than doubles the processing strength. Additionally the newer version of Android helps, as always.

However, the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 still needs better foothold in the market, and Samsung knows all this.

Still, with all the competition in the market, there is no Galaxy Grand 2 with such a screen size, LTE, and dual SIM support, and not being a phablet. Though LTE may not be relevant, in some markets where the technology has not yet been presented, however, the device having a combination with the LTE and dual SIM, certainly states that Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 is targeting a wide spectrum, and also the device, with its rich feature list, will be a hot picking for many a user.