While so much emphasis has been given on marketing and publicity of Samsung Galaxy S3, another member of the flagship series came into the market without much exposure. Yes, it is Samsung Galaxy Stellar, the mid-range Smartphone that we are talking about. Samsung’s biggest USP is its versatile phone range that brings Smartphone and Android experience to the masses in big and medium budgets. Galaxy Stellar is one such phone that can be accommodated by relatively smaller wallets.
Samsung Galaxy Stellar Design
Galaxy Stellar has a very basic plastic form; its all-black finish lacks inspiration. With 4.8 inch length and a chunky 0.47 inch thickness, it may not be in the big league of the thin, high-end Smartphones, but it fits in your palm very comfortably. There is a secondary camera above the display and four touch buttons below it (back, home, recent apps and menu). On the left side, there is the volume rocker and microSD port and the 3.5 mm port is on the top like all galaxy gadgets. The more roundish bottom edge adds to the aesthetics of the phone.
Display
The display is not unusual for a mid range phone but it would be unfair to compare it to the Super AMOLED screens of Galaxy S3 or such high end phones. It has a WVGA touch screen of resolution 800 x 480. This omission of HD is definitely a letdown for some users because with companies trying to make displays bigger and better, Smartphone and HD display have become somewhat synonymous. The screen, at 4 inches, is not very big either. It does not particularly hamper typing but when the touch keyboard and the typing screen all fit in under 4 inches, mistakes are bound to sneak in.
Hardware & Performance
Under the not so impressive cover, we Galaxy Stellar has a dual core Snapdragon S4 processor clocked at 1 GHz. It does not match up to the prowess of quad core processors but in the price range, it gives decent service. It has 4 GB of internal memory which can be expanded by microSD card. Another 4 GB of memory would have been more comfortable because if you want to download a lot of apps, you will need external memory because even the pre-installed Samsung apps take up about 1.7 GB. The RAM is fairly accommodating at 1 GB, which is at par with the more popular Galaxy phones like S3. Surprisingly, battery life is the real triumph for Stellar, an aspect Smartphones routinely fail to cope with. As the screen and processor are both quite gentle on the 2100 mAh battery, the phone lasts surprisingly long.
Software and apps
Galaxy Stellar gives a stellar performance when it comes to initiating novices into the Android world. With the starter mode, the interface is absurdly simplified and ideal for the not so tech-savvy users. Stellar runs on Ice Cream Sandwich; although there were expectations of an upgrade to the latest Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, it seems now that such hopes have been dashed.
Camera
The camera and photo quality is lackluster at best. There is a primary 3.2 MP camera at the back and a 1.3 MP secondary camera in front. Although 3.2 megapixels is not very impressive, it could have fared better even without upgrading the power of the lens. Stellar is a decent phone if you are a college student looking for an Android phone, if you are on a tight budget. But if you intend for your phone to double as a good image capturing device then the best move is to stay away from Galaxy Stellar.
Verdict
As quite clear from the very beginning of the review, Samsung Galaxy Stellar is not going to win awards in any department. The price tag it flaunts is usually associated with the most mediocre of phones. It will not give you reasons to boast about, it doesn’t have specs that you can show off. But one shouldn’t get caught up in that because Samsung didn’t really target the most frivolous Smartphone users with Stellar. Be that as it may, Stellar is not all bad. If you want a decent Smartphone, the Android experience without blowing a hole in your pocket then Samsung Galaxy Stellar is the way to go.
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Juan says
this phone a little similar to galaxy advance, for me galaxy advance better
PrIyAnGsHu says
A nice middle class phone but the design looks really great.
Elise says
This is my fourth smartphone dating back to 2010. My first was a Palm Pre Plus (loved its OS, but I guess I was only one of 20 who felt that way), second was a Droid Pro, third was a Droid 2, and most recently is the Samsung Stellar. Two things make the Stellar my favorite of the phones I’ve owned. 1) Battery life is vastly superior to the others. I don’t make many voice calls, but I listen to podcasts daily and browse the Internet a lot, and STILL can get an entire day of battery life, at least. With my other phones it was necessary to keep a couple of fully charged spare batteries in my handbag when I would be out and about. 2) I can power on the Stellar essentially immediately after putting the phone on the charger with a fully depleted battery. With the others, I couldn’t power on until the battery had reached a 5 percent charge, which was excruciating when I was in a hurry. I am loving the ability to power on my phone right after plugging in the charger.
Yes, the camera and its lack of a flash leave much to be desired when I want to take a picture in poor lighting. Luckily, camera quality isn’t a major issue with me as I don’t take a lot of photos. Even if I did, the two positives I mentioned would make up for it.
To recap, this phone does everything I need it to (minus the ability to take crisp, sharp pics in dim light) and I’m more than pleased with it. Its speediness is impressive when using the Internet (I’m not a gamer and can offer no input in that area). The fact that it was free with contract renewal makes it even nicer. If you are okay with so-so camera quality and not one of those insufferable phone snobs who gets into an annoying snit over that sort of thing, this is a great phone for its low price. I just can’t believe how few mentions I see of it in online forums by people who own one. I know of no one personally who owns one, and that is so odd as I adore this phone. I would love to see more people opting for this phone over the ridiculously expensive other Galaxy varieties.