Samsung was the manufacturer that nailed the phablets category with the launch of the Galaxy Note in late 2010. They launched the Note II in 2012, which was a follow up to the original Note and was well received.
Today, at the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos, the company’s first mid-range phablet, and we got some hands on time with the device at the event. Here’s what we thought of it:
Let us start with the specifications that the Galaxy Grand I9082 brings to the table. It has a 5-inch WVGA TFT display with a relatively low 480x800 resolution. Under the hood, it has a 1.2GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM. It runs on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean straight out of the box and has Samsung TouchWiz UI. The device weighs in at 162 grams. It has 8GB built-in storage expandable up to 64GB via a microSD card. It has an 8MP rear camera with a BSI sensor and the ability to record video in full 1080p HD, apart from a 2MP front facing camera. It has Bluetooth 4.0, 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity, and is powered by a 2100mAh battery.
We are disappointed to see that the resolution of the display is just 480x800 pixels. Yesterday Micromax launched its next generation of phablets, with the A116 Canvas HD, pricing it at under Rs. 15,000. The Canvas HD has a 5-inch display with a 1280x720 pixel resolution. The A116 also has a quad-core processor where as the Grand sticks to a dual-core processor.