The Samsung Galaxy S Advance is Samsung's new mid-ranger, the fourth iteration of the former champion. Samsung Galaxy S Advance - Specifications Battery life

Contents of delivery:

• Telephone
• Battery
• Charger
• stereo headset
• USB cable

Positioning

The South Korean company Samsung has released the Galaxy S Advance - another smartphone based on the Android operating system. The first model of the Galaktika line - i9000 - was taken as a basis. A new dual-core processor was “screwed” to it, some memory was added and the shape of the case was changed. The camera, diagonal and screen resolution, as well as the type of matrix remained the same. First of all, it will be interesting for those who need a fast and convenient phone with a 4-inch diagonal that is optimal for comfortable work.

The press release said that the device will go on sale at the end of February. However, at the time of writing this review (end of March), the Samsung i9070 is only available for pre-order. The cost is rather big - about 20,000 rubles, however, it can be assumed that closer to the summer, if not earlier, it will fall to 15,000 - 16,000 rubles.

Design, dimensions, controls

I’ll say just a few words about the appearance of Advance, since it practically does not differ from previous models. The only detail is the slightly curved body, which, again, we saw in the "first" and "second" Nexus. It looks good, and the tactile sensations are quite pleasant. It also lies well in the palm, thanks to the curved back and smoothed sides. Made from plastic. Prints remain only on the screen and are erased relatively easily, for example, with a microfiber cloth. The back cover has a small embossed mesh pattern, so it will hold confidently in the hand. The assembly is excellent: it does not creak, does not play, and the lid does not push through to the battery.

Galaxy Advance measures 123.2 x 63 x 9.7 mm and weighs 120 grams. It turns out that it is thinner and already Samsung i9000, but a little higher.

On the front panel there are two sensors - proximity and lighting, located next to the front camera and earpiece. Its volume is average, I would like to have a margin. The interlocutor is heard clearly and legibly.

Under the screen: a rectangular button "Home" (relatively firmly pressed and when pressed, a characteristic "click" sound is heard) and two touch buttons - "Back", "Menu". Their backlight is white, very dim, not visible during the day.

In the settings for the central button, you can assign an answer to the call.

On the left is a wide and thin volume rocker, on the right is the on/off button of the device, which also acts as a screen lock. At the bottom are: a microUSB port, a standard 3.5 mm audio jack for headphones or a headset, a microphone (there is no second one for noise reduction and stereo sound recording).

The camera module, flash and speaker are on the back of the device.

To remove the cover, you need to pull the notch on the lower right side. The memory card slot is located on the top right (hot swap is supported), the SIM card is installed on the left.

Samsung Galaxy Advance (left) and Samsung Galaxy Note

Samsung Galaxy Advance (left) and Samsung Galaxy S (i9000)

Samsung Galaxy Advance (left) and Sony Ericsson Play

Display

This smartphone model uses a SuperAMOLED screen matrix. Unfortunately, the pixel construction technology is the same as in i9000 - PenTile. This means that upon close examination of the text or icons, they will seem a little "loose" to you. Especially noticeable in a web browser. Personally, it doesn't bother me at all.

The display diagonal did not increase (fortunately, it did not decrease either) and amounted to 4 inches, the resolution is traditional for the average price segment of Android devices - 480x800 pixels, density - 233 pixels per inch. The sensor is naturally capacitive and supports up to 10 simultaneous touches. Sensitivity comparable to SGS II.

In terms of color reproduction, the Advance is slightly warmer, while the "first" Galaxy S is cooler. Brightness (adjusted automatically or manually) and contrast are the same. Viewing angles are great, but when tilted the picture gets a slight greenish tint. In the sun, the screen does not fade much, the information remains readable, however, in this parameter it loses to the SGS II and Prada displays from LG.

The device has an accelerometer (BMA222), a magnetometer (YAS530), a gyroscope (MPU3050), a combined light and proximity sensor chip (GP2A).

In the "Screen" settings, the font is selected, the background screen saver and the location of the clock on the "Lock Screen" are changed. There is a special function “Energy Saving” in the parameters: its essence lies in the fact that the device analyzes the image on the display, and if it is dominated by white, the brightness decreases slightly. There are settings to turn off the backlight of the touch buttons.

Display Samsung Galaxy Note (bottom), Samsung Galaxy S i9000 (center) and Samsung Galaxy Advance:

Viewing angles Samsung Galaxy i9070

Battery

The Samsung Advance uses a 1500 mAh lithium-ion (Li-Ion) battery. Model EB535151VU. The manufacturer does not indicate the operating time of this model. But if you use the phone for about 15 - 16 hours, then the battery will be completely discharged under the condition: 20-25 minutes of calls per day, three hours of using Wi-Fi Internet (Twitter, mail, downloading applications and installing them), about five hours of mobile Internet while listening to music (a couple of hours). Excellent energy saving results!

More numbers:

• Only in talk mode, the device works up to 7 hours
• Only when playing video (720p) at maximum volume in headphones and maximum screen brightness - just over 10 hours
• Only playing music in headphones at maximum volume is about 30 hours.

It scores almost twice as many points as single-core counterparts and many dual-core ones.

It charges relatively quickly from USB - in an hour, from the network - in the same time.

In the settings there is a special section "Energy saving". You can turn this feature on or off. There are many options: turn off Wi-Fi when there is no mobile Internet connection, turn off Bluetooth and / or GPS when idle, turn off synchronization, change the brightness level of the backlight, etc. There is even an item "Energy Saving Tips".

Communication options

The smartphone works in cellular networks 2G (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) and 3G (850/900/1900/2100 MHz). Speed ​​HSDPA - up to 14.4 Mbps, HSUPA - up to 5.76 Mbps. Available in Bluetooth version 3.0 HS (with A2DP stereo profile).

There is wireless Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n. The unit can be used as an access point (Wi-Fi Hotspot), file transfer (Wi-Fi Direct) and multimedia content (DLNA). In the "settings" there is an item "Tethering and hotspot". Connects Samsung with a computer over the air using Kies via Wi-Fi. For all the time of work, the network did not “fall”.

Hi-Speed ​​USB 2.0 is also used for file transfer and data synchronization. When connected to a PC, Advance is identified as a USB flash drive or USB modem.

SAR value

Your phone has been manufactured to comply with the limits for exposure to radio frequency (RF) energy recommended by the Council of the European Union. These standards prohibit the sale of mobile phones whose radiation level (called the specific absorption rate, SAR) exceeds 2.0 watts per kilogram of body weight. During testing (courtesy of Samsung), the maximum SAR for this model was 0.543 watts per kilogram. In normal use, the SAR value is much lower because the phone only emits the amount of RF energy needed to send a signal to the nearest base station. By automatically reducing your phone's radiation levels, your exposure to radio frequency energy is reduced.

Memory and memory card

Smartphone Samsung i9070 has 768 MB (really - 555 MB, and free on average about 300 MB) of RAM, sufficient for most tasks. For installing applications, photos, music and videos, 4 GB of Flash memory and 2 GB of system memory are allocated. The press release said that there will be two versions of the device: with 8 GB and 16 GB. We must assume that we have 8 GB in the Samsung review, although 4 and 2 in total will give only 6 GB. It doesn't matter: there is still a slot for a microSD memory card, the maximum amount of which can be up to 32 GB.

Camera

The Galaxy i9070 has two camera modules: 5-megapixel (with autofocus) and 1.3-megapixel (front, no autofocus, for video calls). There is a single section LED flash.

The quality of the photos is not better, but not worse than the shots taken on the Samsung Ace, Omnia W and Wonder: natural color reproduction, a little color noise even in shots taken at night. From the EXIF ​​information of the photo file, we managed to find out that the aperture number is f/2.7, the minimum shutter speed is 1/1000, and the maximum shutter speed is 1/8.

Video recording is carried out at a resolution of 1280x720 (720p) without autofocus at 30 frames per second. Good quality.

There is no separate “photo” button in the device, so the camera is activated by clicking on the corresponding icon on the screen. The camera shoots quickly, there is no visible delay between pressing the screen and receiving a frame. But in terms of speed it is still inferior to smartphones from Sony and Sony Ericsson.

Camera interface

On the left is the icon for switching from the main camera to the front and vice versa, flash (disable, force enable and set to automatic), settings. On the right is the choice of mode (camera or video camera), the shutter activation button and the entrance to the gallery.

Camera settings

• Self-portrait. Switching to the front camera
• Flash. Enable or disable
• shooting mode. The user can choose from a single shot, a smile shot, a cartoon, a panorama and a shot in motion.
• Subject (none, portrait, landscape, night, sports, room, sunset, dawn, autumn colors, text, candle, backlight)
• Exposure value (-2 to +2 in 0.5 steps)
• Focus mode. Auto focus or take photos in macro mode
• Timer (enable/disable)
• Resolution (from 640x480 to 2560x1920 pixels)
• ISO (auto, 100, 200 and 400)
• Metering. These are options for setting exposure in the central part of the frame, pointwise and across the entire field of the frame
• Auto contrast (enable/disable)
• Blink Definition
• Net
• Image quality
• GPS. Ability to leave location data in EXIF ​​information
• Reset all camera settings

Camera interface

On the left is the icon "Recording mode" (normal, limited for MMS, recording from the front camera), flash (disable, force enable and set to automatic), settings. On the right is the choice of mode (camera or video camera), the shutter activation button and the entrance to the gallery.

Camcorder settings

It contains the following items:

• Backlight (enable or disable)
• Recording mode. Ability to record clips in the usual version, for MMS or video recording on the front camera
• Exposure value
• Timer
• Effects (none, negative, grayscale, sepia)
• Resolution (from 174x144 to 1280x720 pixels)
• White balance (auto detect, daylight, cloudy, incandescent)
• Video quality
• Net
• Memory (internal or card)
• Reset all camcorder settings

The photo album looks normal for Android.

Video file characteristic:

• File Format: MP4
• Video codec: AVC, 12 Mbps
• Resolution: 1280 x 720, 30 fps
• Audio codec: AAC, 63 Kbps
• Channels: 1 channel, 44 kHz

Photo examples:

Panoramic photos:

Performance

Samsung equipped the Galaxy S Advance with a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor clocked at 1 GHz (800 MHz average, 200 MHz minimum) on each core. The device operates on the NovaThor U8500 chipset developed by ST-Ericsson.

Brief specification of NovaThor U8500:

• Release year: 2010
• Architecture: ARMv7
• Manufacturing process: 45 nm
• Maximum frequency: 1.2 GHz
• Graphics accelerator: Mali-400 MP (single core)
• Memory: LP-DDR2

Peculiarities:

• Full HD 1080p recording and playback (H264 HP, VC-1, MPEG-4)
• Support for high resolution displays (up to WXGA)
• Working with two displays
• High performance in 3D graphics
• Dual camera support up to 20 MP
• WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and FM
• Built-in USB 2.0, HDMI output
• Support for various OS

Sony Xperia Sola (P and U), Samsung Galaxy Ace 2, Galaxy Beam also work on this chip.

In practice, the device showed its best side: no glitches or brakes were noticed, it did not reboot or freeze.

Below is a brief technical specification and many performance tests:

Quadrant Standart

Navigation

The smartphone has a GPS navigator. For the test, I will use the Navitel application. I will not describe the installation of the program, I will only briefly mention that to install Navitel you will need two files: APK and maps.

After launching the application, we agree with all the requests that the navigation will offer. "Cold" start of determining the coordinates of Advance - about a minute (quite fast), "hot" - up to 5-10 seconds. Unfortunately, satellites are reluctantly determined indoors, so the navigator found only two with difficulty. However, even in open space in clear weather, Advance identified only 4 satellites ...

A map and a row of icons appear on the screen: on top - a compass, sound settings, satellite settings, battery charge, traffic jams; on the right - scaling, on the left below - "Search", on the right below - "Menu". Optionally, enable or disable various online services and set up POI filtering: cars, food, trade, entertainment, etc.

You can watch route navigation in flat or 3D view, from above or with rotation. Night mode of maps or standard - day mode is available. Throughout the trip, there is voice accompaniment of various events: turns, conditions for receiving satellites, etc.

To search for a destination, select one of the options, for example, by address. We enter the city, street and house. Building a route takes less than a second, and it will take the same amount of time to rebuild the route in case of a traffic jam or other unpleasant situation.

The Navitel program coped with all the functions perfectly, but the Samsung i9070 clearly lacked the greater sensitivity of the GPS receiver.

Software platform and shell

The Samsung i9070 runs on Google Android firmware version 2.3.6 (i9070xxlb5). Whether this model will receive an upgrade to ICS is still unknown, but I think so, since I do not see any obstacles.

As the design of the OS, Samsung used the same shell as on the Galaxy S II and other smartphones - TouchWiz version 4.0. I will not repeat myself, I will tell you in short: the main screen has 7 virtual desktops, on which you can put folders, shortcuts, widgets and hot keys.

Challenges

The dialer is standard for Samsung - large and comfortable. From it it is easy to get into the call log and contacts. For each subscriber, you can set a phone number, email address, ring tone, postal address and profile picture. In additional settings - note, alias, birthday and anniversary. The call log provides information about the time of the call and its date. If you click on a phone number, a list of all calls from this contact will open.

Information about the make, model, and alternative names of a particular device, if any.

Design

Information about the dimensions and weight of the device, presented in different units of measurement. Used materials, suggested colors, certificates.

Width Width information refers to the horizontal side of the device in its standard orientation during use.	63 mm (millimeters) 6.3 cm (centimeters) 0.21 ft 2.48in
Height Height information refers to the vertical side of the device in its standard orientation during use.	123.2 mm (millimeters) 12.32 cm (centimeters) 0.4 ft 4.85in
Thickness Information about the thickness of the device in different units of measurement.	9.7 mm (millimeters) 0.97 cm (centimeters) 0.03 ft 0.38in
Weight Information about the weight of the device in different units of measurement.	120 g (grams) 0.26 lbs 4.23oz
Volume Approximate volume of the device, calculated from dimensions provided by the manufacturer. Refers to devices with the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped.	75.29 cm³ (cubic centimeters) 4.57 in³ (cubic inches)

SIM card

The SIM card is used in mobile devices to store data that certifies the authenticity of mobile service subscribers.

Mobile networks

A mobile network is a radio system that allows multiple mobile devices to communicate with each other.

Mobile technologies and data rates

Communication between devices in mobile networks is carried out through technologies that provide different data transfer rates.

Operating system

The operating system is the system software that manages and coordinates the operation of the hardware components in the device.

SoC (System on a Chip)

System on a chip (SoC) includes all the most important hardware components of a mobile device in one chip.

SoC (System on a Chip) System on a chip (SoC) integrates various hardware components such as processor, graphics processor, memory, peripherals, interfaces, etc., as well as the software necessary for their operation.	ST-Ericsson NovaThor U8500
Technological process Information about the technological process by which the chip is made. The value in nanometers measures half the distance between the elements in the processor.	45 nm (nanometers)
Processor (CPU) The main function of the processor (CPU) of a mobile device is the interpretation and execution of instructions contained in software applications.	ARM Cortex-A9
Processor bit depth The bit depth (bits) of a processor is determined by the size (in bits) of registers, address buses, and data buses. 64-bit processors have higher performance than 32-bit processors, which, in turn, are more productive than 16-bit processors.	32 bit
Instruction Set Architecture Instructions are commands by which the software sets/controls the operation of the processor. Information about the instruction set (ISA) that the processor can execute.	ARMv7
Number of processor cores The processor core executes program instructions. There are processors with one, two or more cores. Having more cores increases performance by allowing many instructions to be executed in parallel.	2
Processor clock speed The clock speed of a processor describes its speed in terms of cycles per second. It is measured in megahertz (MHz) or gigahertz (GHz).	1000 MHz (megahertz)
Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) The graphics processing unit (GPU) handles calculations for various 2D/3D graphics applications. In mobile devices, it is used most often by games, consumer interface, video applications, etc.	ARM Mali-400 MP1
Number of GPU cores Like the CPU, the GPU is made up of several working parts called cores. They handle the graphical calculations of different applications.	1
The amount of random access memory (RAM) Random access memory (RAM) is used by the operating system and all installed applications. Data stored in RAM is lost when the device is turned off or restarted.	768 MB (megabytes)
Type of random access memory (RAM) Information about the type of random access memory (RAM) used by the device.	LPDDR2
ROM size ROM memory is read-only. In some mobile devices, this is the internal memory that contains the operating system. The data in the ROM memory is retained even after the device is turned off.	2048 MB (megabytes) 2.09715e+6 kB (kilobytes)

Built-in memory

Each mobile device has a built-in (non-removable) memory with a fixed amount.

Memory cards

Memory cards are used in mobile devices to increase the storage capacity for storing data.

Screen

The screen of a mobile device is characterized by its technology, resolution, pixel density, diagonal length, color depth, etc.

Type/technology One of the main characteristics of the screen is the technology by which it is made and on which the image quality of information directly depends.	Super AMOLED
Diagonal For mobile devices, the screen size is expressed in terms of its diagonal length, measured in inches.	4 in 101.6 mm (millimeters) 10.16 cm (centimeters)
Width Approximate Screen Width	2.06in 52.27 mm (millimeters) 5.23 cm (centimeters)
Height Approximate Screen Height	3.43in 87.12 mm (millimeters) 8.71 cm (centimeters)
Aspect Ratio The ratio of the dimensions of the long side of the screen to its short side	1.667:1 5:3
Permission Screen resolution indicates the number of pixels vertically and horizontally on the screen. Higher resolution means sharper image detail.	480 x 800 pixels
Pixel Density Information about the number of pixels per centimeter or inch of the screen. Higher density allows information to be shown on the screen in clearer detail.	233 ppi (pixels per inch) 91ppm (pixels per centimeter)
Color depth Screen color depth reflects the total number of bits used for the color components in a single pixel. Information about the maximum number of colors the screen can display.	24 bit 16777216 flowers
Screen area Approximate percentage of screen space on the front of the device.	58.86% (percentage)
Other characteristics Information about other functions and features of the screen.	capacitive Multitouch

Sensors

Different sensors perform different quantitative measurements and convert physical indicators into signals that are recognized by the mobile device.

rear camera

The main camera of a mobile device is usually located on its rear panel and can be combined with one or more additional cameras.

Svetlosila Luminosity (also known as f-stop, aperture, or f-number) is a measure of the aperture size of a lens that determines the amount of light that enters the sensor. The lower the f-number, the larger the aperture and the more light reaches the sensor. Usually, the number f is indicated, which corresponds to the maximum possible aperture of the aperture.	f/2.7
Flash type The rear (rear) cameras of mobile devices mainly use LED flashes. They can be configured with one, two or more light sources and vary in shape.	LED
Image Resolution One of the main characteristics of cameras is resolution. It represents the number of horizontal and vertical pixels in an image. For convenience, smartphone manufacturers often list resolution in megapixels, giving an approximate number of pixels in millions.	2592 x 1944 pixels 5.04 MP (megapixels)
Video Resolution Information about the maximum video resolution that the camera can record.	1280 x 720 pixels 0.92 MP (megapixels)
Video recording speed (frame rate) Information about the maximum recording rate (frames per second, fps) supported by the camera at maximum resolution. Some of the most basic video recording speeds are 24 fps, 25 fps, 30 fps, 60 fps.	30 fps (frames per second)
Specifications Information about additional software and hardware features of the rear (rear) camera.	autofocus geo tags Touch focus Face recognition

Front-camera

Smartphones have one or more front cameras of various designs - a pop-up camera, a PTZ camera, a cutout or hole in the display, a camera under the display.

Radio

The radio of the mobile device is a built-in FM receiver.

Location determination

Information about navigation and location technologies supported by the device.

WiFi

Wi-Fi is a technology that provides wireless communication for short distance data transmission between different devices.

Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a standard for secure wireless data transfer between different types of devices over short distances.

Version There are several versions of Bluetooth, with each subsequent one improving communication speed, coverage, making it easier to discover and connect devices. Information about the Bluetooth version of the device.

3.0

Specifications Bluetooth uses different profiles and protocols for faster data transfer, power savings, better device discovery, and more. Some of these profiles and protocols that the device supports are shown here.

A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) A2MP (AMP Manager Protocol) AVCTP (Audio/Video Control Transport Protocol) AVDTP (Audio/Video Distribution Transport Protocol) AVRCP (Audio/Visual Remote Control Profile) GAVDP (Generic Audio/Video Distribution Profile) GAP (Generic Access Profile) HFP (Hands Free Profile) HID (Human Interface Profile) HSP (Headset Profile) MAP (Message Access Profile) OPP (Object Push Profile) PBAP/PAB (Phone Book Access Profile) SPP (Serial Port Protocol) SAP/SIM/rSAP (SIM Access Profile) HS

USB

USB (Universal Serial Bus) is an industry standard that allows different electronic devices to communicate.

Headphone jack

This is an audio connector, which is also called an audio jack. The most widely used standard in mobile devices is the 3.5mm headphone jack.

Connecting devices

Information about other important connection technologies supported by the device.

Browser

A web browser is a software application for accessing and viewing information on the Internet.

Video file formats/codecs

Mobile devices support various video file formats and codecs, which store and encode/decode digital video data, respectively.

Battery

Mobile device batteries differ from each other in their capacity and technology. They provide the electrical charge they need to function.

Capacity The capacity of a battery indicates the maximum charge it can store, measured in milliamp-hours.	1500 mAh (milliamp-hours)
A type The type of battery is determined by its structure and, more specifically, by the chemicals used. There are different types of batteries, with lithium-ion and lithium-ion polymer batteries being the most commonly used in mobile devices.	Li-Ion (Li-Ion)
Talk time 2G Talk time in 2G is the period of time during which the battery is completely discharged during a continuous conversation in a 2G network.	12 hours 43 minutes 12.7 h (hours) 763.2 min (minutes) 0.5 days
2G standby time The 2G standby time is the amount of time it takes for the battery to fully discharge when the device is in stand-by mode and connected to a 2G network.	630 h (hours) 37800 min (minutes) 26.3 days
3G talk time Talk time in 3G is the period of time during which the battery is completely discharged during a continuous conversation in a 3G network.	6 hours 20 minutes 6.3 h (hours) 379.8 min (minutes) 0.3 days
3G standby time The 3G standby time is the amount of time it takes for the battery to fully discharge when the device is in stand-by mode and connected to a 3G network.	603 h (hours) 36180 min (minutes) 25.1 days
Specifications Information about some additional features of the device's battery.	Removable

Samsung Galaxy S Advance was announced in the winter of 2012, in January, and the smartphone went on sale only in April. The device is positioned as a budget version of the flagship of 2011 - a smartphone. The device has a more “simple” screen, with a smaller diagonal and a Super Amoled matrix, however, the phone turned out to be very good and rightfully occupies a worthy place in its price category.

Appearance

Externally, "Galaxy Advance" is very similar to the I9100, a similar, elongated, rectangular shape, with rounded corners. The front panel is glossy, and the back is made of pleasant to the touch, ribbed plastic. The material is quite practical and resistant to any scratches. The dimensions of the smartphone are 123.2 x 63 x 9.7 mm and the thickness is 120 grams.

Video review of the smartphone

Specifications

The device is based on the STE U8500 chip, has a dual-core processor with a frequency of 1 GHz and the popular video accelerator Mali-400MP. The amount of built-in memory can be 8 or 16 GB, and RAM 768 MB. The battery in the i9070 is not so capacious, at 1500 mAh. It cannot be said that this is a lot, since 2 cores and such a “video card” require quite a lot of energy.

Screen and camera

The screen here is pretty good, its diagonal is 4 inches, and the resolution is 840 x 480 pixels, but the manufacturing technology here is PenTile. The pixel density is approximately 233 ppi. However, the picture looks very good. The main camera does not shine with anything special, has autofocus and is capable of taking pictures with a resolution of 5 megapixels (2592 x 1944), as well as recording video at 720p.

It does not often happen that Russia becomes a launching pad for the launch of any new product, especially in the mobile computer market. Of course, we are talking about devices from world-class companies such as Samsung, and there are plenty of products from Chinese manufacturers with names changed by Russian companies on the market every day. One of these devices was a communicator - a newcomer to a large family of mobile computers under the general name Samsung Galaxy.

The great "fertility" of mobile device manufacturers, including Samsung, has both positive and negative sides. The positive aspects include meeting the needs of the maximum number of users by offering numerous models of communicators with different price-quality ratios. Simply put, the buyer always has the opportunity to choose a device according to his wallet, overpay for something, or save on something. In addition, the desire of mobile device manufacturers to seize leadership in all market segments results in serious competition and has a positive effect on the price.

There are also plenty of negative points in the variety of models. Firstly, an unprepared buyer is simply lost among the many devices offered, and even a more knowledgeable fan of gadgets cannot always immediately answer how one communicator differs from another. With Galaxy S devices, such a leapfrog just turned out. Now, for example, you can purchase such models of communicators: the original Samsung Galaxy S, and, finally, Samsung Galaxy S II. There are also numerous “simplified” and modified hybrids on the market. In total, according to the Yandex.Market service, 25 models of Samsung communicators running Android OS are on sale. And now the Samsung Galaxy S Advance has joined them. Secondly, the abundance of new products leads to a short life cycle of communicators. For example, the production of the Samsung Galaxy S has ceased even though it has only been a few years since the smartphone hit the market, resulting in, among other things, a lack of spare parts and difficulties with repairs.

What is the difference between the novelty and its predecessors and why did Samsung need to release another Samsung Galaxy S communicator? To answer the first question, you need to look at the characteristics of the hero of the review, while the second question can only be answered by the developers of a mobile computer. However, we will try to give an answer to it.

Delivery set and specifications

The communicator came to the editors accompanied only by a Micro-USB-USB cable.

The characteristics of the communicator Samsung Galaxy S Advance (I9070) are as follows:

• STE U8500 processor (dual-core ARM cortex A9, frequency 1 GHz) with Mali-400 MP video core;
• Operating system Android 2.3.6 (Gingerbread);
• Display Super AMOLED (PenTile), diagonal 4 inches, 480 × 800 pixels (WVGA), capacitive, with multitouch;
• 768 MB RAM, 2 GB main flash (1.75 GB available), 7 GB secondary flash;
• Communication GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, GPRS/EDGE;
• Communication 3G UMTS 850/900/1900/2100 MHz, HSDPA 14.4 Mbps; HSUPA 5.76 Mbps;
• Bluetooth v3.0 + HS;
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot;
• GPS, AGPS;
• Slot for microSDHC-cards;
• FM radio, RDS;
• Position sensor in space;
• Light sensor;
• Magnetometer;
• 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, 720p video recording;
• Lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 1500 mAh;
• Dimensions 123×63×10 mm;
• Weight 122 g.

Judging by the capabilities and parameters of the hardware, the hero of the review turned out to be a hybrid of Galaxy S communicators of the first and second generations, occupying an intermediate position between them (which is hinted at by the model index). With the pioneer of the Galaxy line of the hero of the review, the case and display are related, with the Galaxy S II, the novelty is similar to the dual-core processor, graphics accelerator and software stuffing.

Design and appearance

Appearance communicator-beginner is fully consistent with the style of Samsung - almost all Galaxy S smartphones are similar to each other like twins. A thin plastic case in a monoblock form factor, a rough back panel (by the way, more practical than the glossy Galaxy S Plus), a rectangular central key, the same set of controls and their location… The difference between communicators is only in details and sizes. It seems that Samsung has made its choice in terms of the design of the main models of communicators and does not plan to abandon it, another confirmation of this -.

The dimensions and weight of the novelty are almost the same as those of the Galaxy S and Galaxy S Pro. All the difference is imperceptible and invisible fractions of a millimeter and grams. The Samsung Galaxy S Advance is slightly thicker than the Galaxy S II, but narrower and shorter. All of the listed communicators lie well in the hand, fit in your pocket and do not distract your eye with the frills of design from contemplating the picture on the AMOLED display.

The Galaxy S Advance has no sharp corners or edges. Case material - plastic of two types: black matte and gray metallic. The latter collects fingerprints remarkably, as well as the protective glass on the front panel. There are no complaints about the assembly of the communicator, all the details fit perfectly, there are no creaks or backlashes.

The front panel of the novelty is what makes the Galaxy S Advance to some extent a unique communicator in the family (if you do not take into account). We are talking about the concavity of the protective glass and, accordingly, the roundness of the mobile computer case. The effect is noticeable when looking at the communicator in profile, and when the device just lies in the hand, there is not much difference from flat predecessors. Any tangible additional convenience from moving the finger along the curve from point A of the display to point B is also not observed.

The body of the communicator is thicker in its lower part - where the button for returning to the main screen of the system and two touch keys are located. The latter are illuminated from within. At the top of the front panel are the communicator's phone speaker, an additional camera, and ambient light and proximity sensors.

The back panel of the communicator is the battery cover. It is easy to detach and install back. The part is made of flexible plastic, but it’s better not to check its strength once again. The cover has openings for the camera lens, flash, and device speaker. Access to the memory card and SIM card is possible without disconnecting the battery.

The volume control key is located on the left side of the mobile computer case. On the right is the power button of the communicator.

The top end of the communicator is clean, and the bottom is used to accommodate Micro-USB and 3.5 mm headset. Next to them is the main microphone of the device.

The exterior of the communicator did not cause any special emotions, except for a slight sense of deja vu. All design elements are verified, the colors are standard, the feeling of using the computer is positive. One thing remains unclear - how to distinguish the numerous clones and improvements of the Galaxy S from each other on the store shelf?

Software and Settings

The well-known Samsung program is installed as a shell over the Android 2.3.6 operating system. Touch Wiz 4.0. Exactly the same shell is used in the Samsung Galaxy S II. It makes no sense to dwell on the features of this version of TouchWiz - after all, firstly, along with the Galaxy S III, its new version appeared, and secondly, its functionality and interesting points were described in the review of the 2011 Samsung flagship.

After unlocking, the user of the Samsung Galaxy S Advance communicator gets to the main screen of the system. The arrangement of widgets and icons on the seven screen tabs is standard for the company's communicators. On the first there is a clock, a weather forecast widget AccuWeather, Google search engine, icons Samsung Social Hub, Samsung Apps, Google Play and google maps. The next tab contains the email client widget, the third tab contains the gallery widget, browser favorites, stock quotes widget, icons Samsung Game Hub, gmail and Google Talk.

Various hubs (Hub) - an attempt by Samsung to collect the most popular functionality of the communicator within several branded applications. social portal(Social Hub) includes an email client for multiple accounts as well as social media clients such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. After setting up, SMS messages will also be poured into the general heap. game hub- a collection of worthy, according to the developers of this program, installation on the communicator of games.

Samsung engineers install a branded application store in all their smartphones. Samsung Apps, was no exception and Galaxy S Advance. Samsung services and programs also include: Kies air- an application for wireless synchronization of a mobile computer with a big brother, AllShare- a program for accessing media resources on the network and providing it to the contents of the communicator to other devices using DLNA technology.

In addition to the Google services mentioned earlier and many standard applications, the Samsung Galaxy S Advance has a place for third-party programs, for example, Polaris Office- an application for working with files in the popular Microsoft Office format. Unlike many smartphone manufacturers who install a version of the program with limited functionality (document viewing only), the Galaxy S Advance developers did not stint and provided a version with a full set of features.

Following on the list are several gaming applications: MOGames, Texas HoldEmPocker and The Sims 3. Unfortunately, only the first game of them is workable - a set of chess, checkers and reversi, which can be played both with a computer and with a live opponent over the network.

Talking about third-party applications in the Samsung Galaxy Advance, one cannot fail to mention the replacement of the stock keyboard - a well-known application swype. Some may find swiping your finger across the keyboard convenient, some not so much due to the large size of the finger, but having an alternative to the standard virtual keys in the form of a free program is always welcome.

Display and sound

The type, resolution and size of the matrix in Samsung Galaxy S Advance are exactly the same as in the famous predecessor - Samsung Galaxy S. A similar matrix is ​​installed in Samsung Galaxy S Plus. The resolution of the four-inch Super AMOLED display is 800 × 480 pixels. The physical dimensions of the matrix: 86×52 mm - thus, the dot density is approximately 222 dpi.

In the manufacture of the matrix, PenTile technology was used - the matrix cells responsible for displaying one of the three basic colors are arranged in a special way, with a predominance of green subpixels. Outwardly, this is expressed in the form of a special “graininess” of the image on the screen, blurring of small text, it also seems that a certain lattice is superimposed on the display. However, this feature of the display is not noticeable to many, and when compared with the Galaxy S II, the matrix of which is arranged in a more familiar way with the same size of subpixels, they do not see a difference in the picture of the two communicators.

As with any AMOLED display, the Samsung Galaxy S Advance features rich, vibrant colors, high contrast ratios and deep blacks. The high brightness of the display makes it possible to successfully fight against external illumination, the communicator can be used on a sunny day, but the glossy surface of the screen in the form of a protective glass makes significant adjustments to the picture quality. Glass Gorilla Glass in addition to protecting the matrix perfectly collects fingerprints, reflects the face of the owner of the communicator and other objects in bright ambient light.

The capacitive display sensor supports multiple touches, 10 simultaneous signals were checked - there were not enough fingers for more.

The tilt of the communicator in any direction practically does not affect the color rendering of the picture on the screen. The absence of significant color distortion when changing the viewing angle is one of the advantages of OLED technology.

The volume control of the two speakers of the communicator is carried out both by software and using the button on the left side of the mobile computer case. The built-in music player allows you to enable emulation of 5.1 multi-channel sound, adjust the equalizer, or select one of the prepared sound enhancement effects.

The volume of all speakers of the communicator is good and sufficient. The main one successfully copes with playing ringtones, alarms and navigator tips. The phone speaker together with the microphone provides high quality of conversations with the interlocutor.

The built-in FM radio in the Samsung Galaxy S Advance only works when headphones are connected. Station signals are recognized confidently, RDS technology is supported. Tuning the receiver takes no time: the user-friendly control program automatically searches for stations. The frequency can also be specified manually, though not in the most convenient way - by scrolling the receiver's virtual tuning wheel and then saving it in the communicator's memory.

Camera

As befits a modern communicator, the hero of the review is equipped with two cameras: the main one on the rear panel and an additional one in front. The resolution of their photosensitive matrices is 5 megapixels and 1.3 megapixels, respectively. Thus, the maximum image resolution of the Samsung Galaxy S Advance is 2560 × 1920 pixels. Video is captured in MPEG-4/H.264 format at 720p resolution at 30 frames per second.

The main camera is equipped with an autofocus system and LED flash. However, the lack of a separate shooting control key is only regrettable. The Samsung TouchWiz shell does not have a separate shortcut key for opening the camera control application on the unlock screen, as is done in many modern communicators. In general, the launch of the program has to be carried out the old fashioned way with a few extra finger movements.

Turning on the camera takes some time, but the autofocus system is activated and the picture is taken very quickly. For the camera built into the communicator, the quality of the resulting photos and videos is acceptable. There is only one limit on the number of the first and the duration of the second - the amount of free memory.

Wireless interfaces and communication

There were no problems with the operation of the communicator in various communication networks. Samsung Galaxy S Advance has a full range of wireless communication modules, all modern data exchange standards are supported (with the exception of 4G networks).

The operating system manages 2G/3G cellular communication modules, Wi-Fi 801.11a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0+HS modules. The communicator successfully connects to existing networks as a client and becomes an access point itself. Many Bluetooth profiles are supported, including A2DP.

The communicator can wirelessly sync with a desktop computer using the Kies Air software. Access to the multimedia content of the smartphone memory is possible through DLNA or AllShare technology. With its help, the smartphone owner gets access to the resources of other computers on the network.

Unfortunately, unlike the Samsung Galaxy S II, the new product does not support TV-out technologies and a USB host. At least, there is no information about this on the official device description page on the Samsung website.

Battery Life

The standard lithium-ion battery capacity of the Samsung Galaxy S Advance is 1500 mAh. By itself, this value is higher than the average for the fleet of mobile devices, but only a series of tests can show the true state of affairs with the autonomous operation of the communicator.

The hero of the review was subjected to several tests and here are their results: playing music with the display turned off lasted 36 hours, reading a book in the FB Reader program with a screen brightness of 50% - 10 hours, the same thing, but with automatic brightness control - 12 hours, navigation using Yandex.Maps - 5 hours. The minimum operating time on a single battery charge is 4 hours. The results of the communicator are good, but nothing more.

In the mode of normal use, the beginner showed himself better, having worked for a day and a half. During testing, the communicator was used as a telephone, a wireless access point, it was used to access the Internet and send messages. The result may not seem outstanding, but everything is known in comparison. For example, Samsung Galaxy S II, after updating the firmware to ICS 4.0, remains operational for at best 12 hours under the same operating conditions.

Communicator Samsung Galaxy S Advance is able to provide adequate battery life, if you make allowances for the common for modern mobile devices "gluttony" in certain modes of operation. In conclusion, it is only worth noting that the recharge of the battery takes 4 hours.

Performance

The hardware platform of the Samsung Galaxy S Advance is somewhat unusual. In terms of its basic parameters, it looks ordinary for 2012, judge for yourself: a dual-core ARM Cortex v9 processor with a frequency of 1 GHz and 768 MB of RAM. The choice of SoC is unusual for a Samsung device - namely, the product of the Swedish-French-Italian conglomerate ST-Ericsson NovaThor U8500. As you know, Samsung independently develops and manufactures a variety of electronic products, including processors for smartphones. If we take into account that the Mali-400 chip is used as the graphics core, then in terms of its characteristics, the key component of the Samsung Galaxy S Advance stuffing almost corresponds to the Samsung Exynos 4210 processor used, for example, in the Samsung Galaxy S II. The main difference between the two chips is frequency, Exynos is 20% faster.

Comparison with previously tested communicators should show how justified Samsung's decision to use this chip was.

	Samsung Galaxy Advance 2×1 GHz (Android 2.3)	Huawei Honor 1.4 GHz (Android 4.0)	LG Optimus Sol 1 GHz (Android 2.3)	Samsung Galaxy S 2×1.2 GHz (Android 2.3)	HTC Sensation 2×1.2 GHz (Android 2.3)	Samsung Galaxy S 1 GHz (Android 2.3)	Samsung Galaxy S 1 GHz (Android 2.1)
Graphics
total graphics score	26.031881	74.65942	57.328293	34.054173	63.32414	30.028656	30.482296
Draw opacity bitmap (MPixels/sec)	9.300636	26.701435	19.56065	11.17294	22.188517	8.854302	9.3687105
Draw transparent bitmap (MPixels/sec)	6.621403	18.962963	15.503407	9.655823	16.542812	9.512309	9.275363
CPU Whitstone
Total CPU score	3108.2927	3200.6553	1999.432	3261.4143	2500.6213	1571.6143	771.9937
MWIPSDP	205.33882	195.69472	128.3697	181.4882	162.86644	97.84736	57.636887
MWIPS SP	230.94688	257.73196	167.78523	296.7359	190.4762	108.813934	60.79027
MFLOPS DP	40.426186	17.900549	8.925826	12.005697	26.03444	6.510691	7.3144784
MFLOPS SP	48.453373	46.086174	16.762455	34.02756	34.39461	14.372471	8.3832655
VAX MIPS DP	170.15817	190.61703	114.365166	156.00337	143.94771	111.43894	39.92782
VAX MIPS SP	168.32018	181.2764	119.336716	225.92809	137.0819	97.69196	40.446907
Memory
total memory score	389.28192	550.8008	482.2524	782.7169	792.86743	647.3529	600.7096
Copy memory (Mb/sec)	353.73187	500.5005	438.2121	711.23755	720.4611	588.2353	545.8515
Filesystem
Total file system score	211.17836	279.8356	101.20107	325.3547	213.823	74.25825	143.54076
Creating 1000 empty files (sec)	0.285	0.338	0.547	0.256	1.342	13.402	41.504
Deleting 1000 empty files (sec)	0.167	0.129	4.009	0.13	0.408	25.047	27.346
Write 1M into file (M/sec)	112.35955	128.20512	149.25374	99.0099	13.513514	37.037037	3.068426
Read 1M from file (M/sec)	312.5	434.78262	54.347828	555.55554	416.66666	112.35955	285.7143
SD card performance
Creating 250 empty files (sec)	3.3	4.556	19.808	9.34	8.588	3.444	11.908
Deleting 250 empty files (sec)	4.82	5.076	52.244	12.42	4.772	3.0	13.684
Write 1M into file (M/sec)	54.347828	57.471264	14.556041	23.364487	26.88172	16.10306	20.833334
Read 1M from file (M/sec)	322.58066	400.0	312.5	312.5	357.14285	344.82758	303.0303

So, it was the calculations that turned out to be the “horse” of the ST-Ericsson NovaThor U8500. This chip received a high average score in processor performance tests, the newcomer performed especially well in the floating point discipline, outperforming not only its predecessor, but also last year's flagships.

The Samsung Galaxy S Advance proved to be less successful in 2D graphics tests, yielding to almost all communicators presented in the table. Exactly the same can be said about memory tests. Judging by the results in Benchmark, the filling of the hero of the review is very peculiar in terms of performance, Samsung Galaxy S Advance managed to take both the first and last places in the tests.

In the Quadrant Standard test, the newcomer to the smartphone market performed well, earning 2555 points. For comparison, the result of the Samsung Galaxy S II is 3125 points.

In another popular benchmark - AnTuTu, the hero of the review received 4726 points. Both tests showed that the Samsung Galaxy S Advance is a "strong midrange".

There are a lot of tests for the Android platform, and all are free, so nothing prevented us from running them on the Samsung Galaxy S Advance and showing the results in this review.

Multiple calculations of the precision of the number "pi".

Performance test in 3D graphics rendering.

Video playback is quite possible for a beginner, unless it is a 1080p (MP4, 7 Mbps, AVC/AAC) video. The regular player could not open it, but MX Video Player played it with noticeable delays. With a 720p video (MP4, 4.5 Mbps, AVC/AAC), the communicator did much better. Video in a more popular format and resolution (AVI, 720 × 400 pixels, 1.2 Mbps, XVID / MP3) was played, including by a regular player, without the slightest problem.

conclusions

At the very beginning of the review, two questions were raised, the first of which is answered by the text of the previous sections of the article, and we will try to answer the second here. Obviously, the extensive development of communicators continues, processors are increasing the number of cores, displays are increasing resolution, and the amount of built-in memory is growing. This year 2012 should be the year of mobile processors with four cores, the year of HD-resolution displays and the year when the built-in memory of the communicator should cross the 64 GB mark. Samsung's new flagship, the Galaxy S III, should be on sale soon; accordingly, the whole look of the product line must change. Dual-core processors and WVGA-screens, thus, become the lot of communicators in the middle price range, it is in it that the Samsung Galaxy S Advance should firmly gain a foothold.

However, this newcomer may interfere with several circumstances. First of all, this is the price of a novelty. The average price range extends from 10,000 to 20,000 rubles, and it is very important to which border the cost of a communicator is closer to. After all, it will depend on what kind of competitors in the market the novelty will face. And it is high competition that is the second obstacle to the popularity of the novelty. It's one thing when a communicator is compared with a legion of different devices in the price zone of 10 thousand rubles, and quite another - when the buyer makes a choice among models that are in the upper price range. Unfortunately, by the will of the nameless employees of Samsung, the Galaxy S Advance ended up in the price area of ​​"about 20 thousand rubles", where it is lost among devices such as the iPhone 4, Samsung Galaxy S II and many other "top" communicators.

The smartphone itself has absorbed many of its predecessors and turned out to be very successful. A high-quality screen, good autonomy and performance - these are the main advantages of the Samsung Galaxy S Advance - but only as a device in the middle price range; he can’t compete with the flagships of 2012. Popularity can be ensured for him, but only if the cost is more adequate.

2 years ago

I will be brief The camera is good 5mp.

2 years ago

Excellent build Good screen Works fast and stable Good camera

2 years ago

Display (Super Amoled), The protective layer of the screen is made of Gorilla Glass, Viewing angles are large, Colors are saturated, The picture is like a living one!!! + Video processor Mali-400MP (the same one is used in Samsung i9300 Galaxy S III) + Body shape (bend) looks strict and expensive! + Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean!!! (fully reveals the potential of this device) + Duration of the phone from 1.5 days - up to 3 days!!! + Digital zoom (photo-video camera) + Good network signal reception + Lots of Android apps

2 years ago

For the first 6 months, there were no questions about his work. Worked smartly. I liked everything.

2 years ago

Very comfortable in the hand, no discomfort during a conversation, that is, you do not have to move the phone from ear to mouth. Due to its size and concave shape, it is by far the most comfortable model I have ever held in my hands. They didn't go wrong with the sizes either. The Note and C3 models, in my opinion, are less convenient due to their size. When checking in the cabin, he talked for about 15 minutes, the network was not lost, the conversation was not interrupted. The menu is intuitive. Pretty fast, no slowdown.

2 years ago

Price / performance ratio bought for 13700r - hardware stuffing (2 cores 1GHz, 512MB of RAM, 8GB of internal memory)

2 years ago

Excellent screen: bright, with the existing small dimensions large enough. Powerful processor - nothing slows down, even the latest games. Any free applications that your heart desires from skype to a cartiographer and autodiagnostics, but this is the advantage of the android as a whole. Standalone GPS (you need to download applications or cache a google map) - used the phone abroad as a navigator in the car (but you need to charge from the cigarette lighter, because you will sit down and you won’t get there))

2 years ago

Bought the phone in August 2012. At first I was completely satisfied .. because the phone was "flying". Never hung up, everything worked fine. Battery. Alas, not long enough (((

2 years ago

The phone itself is worth it, I've had it for a year now, and nothing happened to it.

2 years ago

good screen quick thinking comfortable shape, beautiful design good camera/sound/brightness

2 years ago

After about a year, everything began to blunt terribly and mercilessly (sometimes not always) I highly do not recommend this model .... I regret that I bought it.

2 years ago

Didn't notice, I'm fine with it.

2 years ago

Quickly covered with scratches and abrasions are formed on the back cover of the phone
- Weak native headset (headphones)

2 years ago

Six months later, it began to slow down terribly, after the release of a new version of Android. Began to be discharged very quickly. Stopped charging properly. Constantly have to reload.

2 years ago

Really weak camera. The indoor shots are just terrible. I do not really like the sound reproduction by the speaker. Sometimes there is a rattle. In my city you can not find covers and films.

2 years ago

Price in stores 16-17k
- the camera was not pleased a little. I used to use Nokia N86 8MP as it's not good after all, after excellent Nokia optics and 8 megapixels.

2 years ago

The battery is weak. But I bought this smartphone to use as a PDA + internet calls, and my main phone is Nokia, which holds a charge for more than a week. Therefore, for me it is not critical.
The camera is shitty, during the day it’s normal on the street, but with a lack of light it’s weak (it’s much better in an iPhone). But for me, this is also not critical, because I used the camera only in a hot tropical country, where everything is in order with the sun.

2 years ago

After the New Year, Samsung sent its new firmware. Installed it and now there is a desire to throw the phone in the trash. Of course, the idea of ​​the developers of the new firmware is good - the new elements were pleasing to the eye, but .. it became impossible to use the phone. It began to HANG every 5-10 minutes. especially when trying to watch videos and listen to music. The standard player does not work at all. It closes itself after 5 seconds. Once the phone freezes when trying to dial an SMS message. It feels like the new firmware simply does not have enough phone memory. In no case do not update the firmware !!!

2 years ago

It heats up when I launch GTA San Andreas or other weighty games (not so that it is impossible to endure)

2 years ago

After updating the system (half a year after the purchase), it became terribly buggy, and every month new "bonuses" appeared. After flashing it is better, but sometimes the screen just does not respond to touch .. apparently I got a marriage
-camera button
-poor resolution SLR camera
- like all modern phones - enough for 1.5 days