A few months ago Samsung announced, the Galaxy S DUOS.
The Galaxy S DUOS is Samsung latest high-end device at this time.
The market for Dual SIM cards devices is very important, we know that through the information that we have.Samsung wants to have in each segment a DUOS device.
This year Samsung wanted to give the DUAL segment an extra boost with the Galaxy S DUOS.
SamMobile got the opportunity from Samsung to test this device extensively.
As you can see the Galaxy S DUOS looks a lot like recently launched the Galaxy S III Mini.
The only difference is that the Galaxy S DUOS is not as round as the Galaxy S III Mini.
The design of the Galaxy S DUOS is quite nice, we are quite bored of standard design from Samsung. We hope that Samsung in 2013 will take a whole other approach designwise.
The device is made entirely from plastic(like expected), but this device lies good in the hand.
This is probably because Samsung did not opt for a glossy slippery back but is has a matt finish.
The Galaxy S DUOS uses a 4” LCD screen so no AMOLED screen. Also, the device has the usual sensors and a 5 megapixel camera without autofocus on the back.
The Galaxy S DUOS runs on Android 4.0.4 but will be updated to Android 4.1 later this year.
The processor of the Galaxy S DUOS is a 1GHZ dual core. This device got the Touchwiz poured over it and runs it very nicely due the dual core processor.
Interface
The interface of the Galaxy S DUOS resembles that of the Galaxy S III.
Both devices use the same UI called Touchwiz Nature UX. Unfortunately, this device uses no special effects,like the water effect on the unlock the screen.
However, the interface, the menu and home screen looks much alike.
The device scrolls smoothly through the menu’s just here and there a little lag, but this will be resolved with software updates.
As the name suggests, the Galaxy S DUOS supports two SIM cards in one phone.
Samsung has managed to optimize this option, so you can select that 1 or 2 cards will be active. Or 1 for data and the other only for making phone calls.
Both options are also possible, however you must remember that both SIM cards have their own PIN. So you have to remember that.
Funny thing is , when you change between the Sim cards to change some settings the wallpaper changes with it. This helps you to keep a good overview of which SIM card your using.
Also you immediately change from the network. The last point about the Galaxy DUOS is also nice to know, if you want to call someone, you have to select which SIM card you will be using to make that call. See below a video about some features of the device.
Camera
The camera of the Samsung Galaxy S DUOS is quite reasonable.
Photos are nice but the camcorder is bad although the quality is quite reasonable.
The entire camera interface is like we know and feels very confident..
Of course there are some options removed because the camera sensor and software quality is something less but generally the pictures are quite good enough.
We do not understand that Samsung still has a resolution of 480 x 800, for shooting movies with the Galaxy S DUOS.
We think the resolution must be higher, especially when you compare this phone with the real Galaxy S which can make higher resolutions movies.
Yet again a missed opportunity.
Battery and speed
The Galaxy S DUOS has good battery life and will last at least one day with good intensive use.
This we find for a DUOS sim variant very reasonable. With normal use, this device could last around 2 to 3 days.
So we can say the battery is very good on this device. Despite the 1Ghz dual-core processor we have noticed that this device occasionally has trouble scrolling through the menu’s.
Pro’s:
What makes this phone so special?
We think that many people have 1 problem and that problem is always to carry 2 devices around,1 for private use (often better) and 1 for business purposes. Samsung has managed for these people for a reasonably cheap Android smartphone to send that problem into the past. So now they can use their “work “and private” phone in one device and use it as a real smartphone.
Both SIM cards are always connected and therefore always reachable.
That is of course a big plus, compared to the old DUOS devices from Samsung.
What makes the device even more convenient, is that this device could be a worthy replacement if you basically only use mid-end smartphones.
Cons:
Yet there are some drawbacks to this device.
The screen and camera for example. We had expected that Samsung for this device had used a AMOLED screen. Especially when you see what the price for the Galaxy S Plus is now. The camera could be something better …
A 5 megapixel camera without autofocus is really outdated.
Hopefully this will be fixed by Samsung with the next generation.
