Samsung recently launched Galaxy S Duos 3 in the Indian market but it came out quietly. There was no official announcement regarding the phone and it was noticed after it surfaced online. It is the next device in the Samsung Galaxy S Duos series.
It has been listed at Samsung’s India eStore and some other online retailers and has been priced at INR 8150. This device is the successor to Galaxy S Duos 2 but sadly it doesn’t feel like an upgrade because the hardware isn’t very different.
It runs a newer version of android as compared to the previous device. The device comes with a 5 megapixel primary camera like the previous device and also gets a LED flash. We take a closer look at this device and list down its pros and cons.
The Galaxy S Duos started off with the dual SIM feature as its unique feature. The dual SIM feature is great help for someone who doesn’t like the hassle of carrying multiple devices. It supports micro SIM slots so even if you are moving from a newer device that has got micro SIM slot.
This way you won’t have to switch back to mini SIM to move to this device. Even if you don’t need a dual SIM device right now, it won’t hurt to have one. You might need the feature in near future and the S Duos 3 would help then.
Supports regional languages
There are a lot of devices that would provide you with support for a lot of languages. Most of the devices sold in India offer Hindi as one of the languages but what about other regional languages? These languages aren’t offered by most of the devices but there is still a fair share of people who would prefer to have their language on their device for ease of use.
The Galaxy S Duos 3 supports 14 different regional languages. This way it can cater to the languages of a large number of people and they can have their native language as the default language on their device.
Latest Android operating system
The device runs android 4.4.2 KitKat which is almost the latest version of android out there (if we ignore android 4.4.4). This way the operating system is more suited to low end hardware and runs easily on the device.
The interface gets the Samsung Touch Wiz UI on top of it. So it gets a new launcher as well as many features that are exclusive to Samsung devices. The Touch Wiz UI is nice to use and offers a large number of customisation options over the stock android interface. There is no word about an android version upgrade on this device in future.
Autofocus camera
The device has got a 5 megapixel primary camera and a VGA front camera. The primary camera on this device offers autofocus and comes with a LED flash. A large number of budget devices skip on the autofocus feature on the camera in favour of costs.
We have seen devices like Moto E and Nokia Lumia 530 come with fixed focus cameras to keep the costs down. The auto focus feature helps you obtain a sharp picture by focusing on the subject as compared to pictures captured by a fixed focus camera. The camera can also record videos in semi HD at 30 fps.
Battery life
The device is powered by a 1500 mAh battery. This would appear to be a low capacity battery compared to the capacities we are used to see on more powerful devices of today but it can handle its job well. Despite being a low capacity battery, it manages to power the device efficiently. The hardware is pretty basic and thus you get long standby times from this battery. People who need a basic power efficient device might want to consider this one for the battery life.
The device runs a dual core processor with Cortex A7 cores. This hardware has been around for ages and lacks the power required for handling resource hungry apps. Even the basic messengers and social networking apps might cause trouble due to lack of processing power.
Low RAM
The previous Galaxy S Duos device, the Duos 2 offered 768 MB of RAM. While that wasn’t a lot, it was acceptable for a low end device. Now after the war in budget segment has gone fierce, Samsung has launched a device with just 512 MB of RAM.
This would cause a lot of trouble in device operating. While KitKat is optimised to run on this much RAM, most apps would take up a large fraction of it. Multitasking is a strict no-no. The amount of RAM really chokes down the already crippled capabilities of this device.
Storage
The device offers just 4 GB of on-board storage. The android operating system and the system apps take up a lot of space and you don’t end up getting a lot of storage. With such a small amount of storage, you always run at a risk of using it all up in installing applications and games.
You would have to keep a large number of apps on memory card and still the phone memory would be taken up by the app data. Moreover the previous device supported micro SD cards up to 64 GB however this one supports half of that.
Display
The device has got a 4 inch WVGA display. The display is small and the resolution is low by today’s standards. You get a pixel density of just 233 ppi. The display isn’t an IPS panel so the contrast, colour and viewing angles aren’t any good either.
Price
All this hardware could have been accepted if the price was justified. The device comes with a price tag north of 8K which makes it a poor value for money. You can pick Asus Zenfone 4 or Moto E for less than this and they are much better devices.
Guest Author
About the Author:
The author is an expert in mobile technology and loves to write about different handsets launched. He has listed the specifications Samsung Galaxy S Duos 3 for the readers to make an informed buying decision.
It has been listed at Samsung’s India eStore and some other online retailers and has been priced at INR 8150. This device is the successor to Galaxy S Duos 2 but sadly it doesn’t feel like an upgrade because the hardware isn’t very different.
It runs a newer version of android as compared to the previous device. The device comes with a 5 megapixel primary camera like the previous device and also gets a LED flash. We take a closer look at this device and list down its pros and cons.
Pros
Dual SIM SupportThe Galaxy S Duos started off with the dual SIM feature as its unique feature. The dual SIM feature is great help for someone who doesn’t like the hassle of carrying multiple devices. It supports micro SIM slots so even if you are moving from a newer device that has got micro SIM slot.
This way you won’t have to switch back to mini SIM to move to this device. Even if you don’t need a dual SIM device right now, it won’t hurt to have one. You might need the feature in near future and the S Duos 3 would help then.
Supports regional languages
There are a lot of devices that would provide you with support for a lot of languages. Most of the devices sold in India offer Hindi as one of the languages but what about other regional languages? These languages aren’t offered by most of the devices but there is still a fair share of people who would prefer to have their language on their device for ease of use.
The Galaxy S Duos 3 supports 14 different regional languages. This way it can cater to the languages of a large number of people and they can have their native language as the default language on their device.
Latest Android operating system
The device runs android 4.4.2 KitKat which is almost the latest version of android out there (if we ignore android 4.4.4). This way the operating system is more suited to low end hardware and runs easily on the device.
The interface gets the Samsung Touch Wiz UI on top of it. So it gets a new launcher as well as many features that are exclusive to Samsung devices. The Touch Wiz UI is nice to use and offers a large number of customisation options over the stock android interface. There is no word about an android version upgrade on this device in future.
Autofocus camera
The device has got a 5 megapixel primary camera and a VGA front camera. The primary camera on this device offers autofocus and comes with a LED flash. A large number of budget devices skip on the autofocus feature on the camera in favour of costs.
We have seen devices like Moto E and Nokia Lumia 530 come with fixed focus cameras to keep the costs down. The auto focus feature helps you obtain a sharp picture by focusing on the subject as compared to pictures captured by a fixed focus camera. The camera can also record videos in semi HD at 30 fps.
Battery life
The device is powered by a 1500 mAh battery. This would appear to be a low capacity battery compared to the capacities we are used to see on more powerful devices of today but it can handle its job well. Despite being a low capacity battery, it manages to power the device efficiently. The hardware is pretty basic and thus you get long standby times from this battery. People who need a basic power efficient device might want to consider this one for the battery life.
Cons
Dated hardwareThe device runs a dual core processor with Cortex A7 cores. This hardware has been around for ages and lacks the power required for handling resource hungry apps. Even the basic messengers and social networking apps might cause trouble due to lack of processing power.
Low RAM
The previous Galaxy S Duos device, the Duos 2 offered 768 MB of RAM. While that wasn’t a lot, it was acceptable for a low end device. Now after the war in budget segment has gone fierce, Samsung has launched a device with just 512 MB of RAM.
This would cause a lot of trouble in device operating. While KitKat is optimised to run on this much RAM, most apps would take up a large fraction of it. Multitasking is a strict no-no. The amount of RAM really chokes down the already crippled capabilities of this device.
Storage
The device offers just 4 GB of on-board storage. The android operating system and the system apps take up a lot of space and you don’t end up getting a lot of storage. With such a small amount of storage, you always run at a risk of using it all up in installing applications and games.
You would have to keep a large number of apps on memory card and still the phone memory would be taken up by the app data. Moreover the previous device supported micro SD cards up to 64 GB however this one supports half of that.
Display
The device has got a 4 inch WVGA display. The display is small and the resolution is low by today’s standards. You get a pixel density of just 233 ppi. The display isn’t an IPS panel so the contrast, colour and viewing angles aren’t any good either.
Price
All this hardware could have been accepted if the price was justified. The device comes with a price tag north of 8K which makes it a poor value for money. You can pick Asus Zenfone 4 or Moto E for less than this and they are much better devices.
Guest AuthorAbout the Author:
The author is an expert in mobile technology and loves to write about different handsets launched. He has listed the specifications Samsung Galaxy S Duos 3 for the readers to make an informed buying decision.
