Samsung takes the Grand plunge again

The company hopes to make a splash in the mid-range smartphone market with its Galaxy Grand 2 model

Samsung has introduced its second large-screen smartphone in the Galaxy Grand series, aimed at the mid-range smartphone market. Here's a look at the Galaxy Grand 2.

Design and display
Grand 2 has made advances in terms of size, design and appearance. With a much bigger display than its predecessor, Galaxy Grand, it has a near-perfect finish in build. The rear side has glossy faux leather with an artificial threading look, similar to Galaxy Note 3's. This does not get scratched easily and provides a good grip. The dual-SIM device is slimmer and lighter. The home and power-lock buttons, micro-USB port, volume boosters, 3.5-mm audio jack and camera with LED flash are positioned like in any Samsung model. The 720-pixel high-definition (HD) 5.25-inch TFT display is a notch higher than the Galaxy Grand's. However, the viewing angles aren't great and the screen doesn't make it any easier to view in sunlight.

SPECIFICATIONS

Display: 5.2 inches

Processor: 1.2GHz
Front camera: 1.9 megapixels
Rear camera: 8 megapixels
Resolution: 720x1,280 pixels
RAM: 1.5GB
OS: Android 4.3
Storage: 8GB
Battery: 2,600mAh

Performance
Grand 2 is powered by a quad-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 SoC, with Adreno 305. The 1.5GB RAM makes multitasking easy. The handset has 8GB storage and up to 64GB with a microSD card.

The smartphone delivers well for regular use. The user interface enables multiple windows and a pop-up video player. Both run smoothly. One can run two apps side by side and also save these as a single icon. One can also browse two sites at the same time, unique to this device.

Connectivity
It has adequate options, including Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n), Bluetooth and GPS.

Battery
The battery is powerful and delivers even while working on both the SIMs and multiple applications.

Gaming
It's good enough for gaming and the graphics can be stunning. However, it lags slightly in HD games such as Asphalt 8: Airborne or Fifa14.

Camera
The 8MP rear camera and the 1.9MP front one of the Grand 2 are not much different from its predecessor. But the user interface is the latest, similar to Galaxy S4's and Galaxy

Note 3's. It has various shooting modes - auto, beauty face, best photo, continuous shot, best face, sound and shot, HDR, panorama, sports and night. For an 8MP camera, the images are sharp.

Verdict
Overall, the Grand 2 is quite an improvement over its previous avatar. There are interesting features in appearance and software. These may give it an edge over others in the mid-range smartphone market. For those who need an alternative to the Note or the S4, this could be a good pick at Rs 24,890.