The Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo model no GT-I9060/DS is priced slightly higher than the Samsung Galaxy Grand. It is powered by a quad core chipset running android 4.2 with 1GB RAM and 8GB storage. Grand Neo for approx Rs. 18,290 is it worth it? find out.
Neo box pack
Box Pack contents: Handset, quick start guide / warranty card, data cable, travel charger, earphone, ear plug cover and 2100 mAh battery.
Design, Display and operating system
It’s a Samsung Galaxy handset and like other galaxy handsets this one too follows the same design pattern. The rear side is matte finish with textures. Handset weight is 160 grams (with battery) and dimensions are 76.82 x 143.45 x 9.72mm. The build quality and finishing is very good.
The display may not impress many its 5 inch TFT with 800 x 480 pixels resolution. Viewing angles are good. Touch is smooth and responsive. Smart stay feature is also available along with multi window, however the light sensors are missing – you will need to manually adjust the brightness. There are accelerometer, magnetic and proximity sensor.
The Galaxy Grand Neo runs on the Android 4.2.2 OS with Motion UI.
Memory / Storage
There is 1GB RAM and 8GB storage. Of the 8GB storage 2.71 is assigned as system memory and available user space + space for apps is 5.01GB. There is a micro SD card slot that can house cards of up to 64GB. Apps cannot be installed or moved to external storage – you have a limited space of 5GB. OTG is also not supported. 581MB of free RAM available on the first boot.
Performance
The Grand Neo houses the Broadcom BCM23550 quad core chipset – ARM Cortex A7 clocked at 1.2GHz with Videocore IV HW GPU. Micromax Mad A94 and the XOLO Q1000 Opus are also powered by the same hardware and almost half the price at what the Grand Neo is selling for. Performance is good though the Motion UI seemed a bit lagging at times.
Benchmark scores
- Quadrant Standard – 3690.
- AnTuTu – 1st 12988, 2nd 13287.
- Vellamo – HTML5 1300, Metal 475.
- Nenamark 2 – 54.2fps
- Multi Touch : 10 points.
Gaming and Entertainment
You get limited internal space of 5GB plus you cannot install / move apps on external storage. I got the Asphalt 8 game installed on the internal storage. The game by default was set to medium visual quality. In high visual mode the game play is not very smooth, it is good enough when set to medium mode.
The Neo can play full HD videos using MX player.
Camera
The 5MP camera on the rear with LED flash can record videos in 720p resolution. The still image quality is good and 720p video is okay. Check the sample images / video at the end of this review. Front camera is with VGA resolution.
Others
This is a dual SIM handset (dual standby / dual smart mode) you need 2 normal SIM’s. Sound is loud and clear (speaker/in call). There is 3G (21Mbps), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS (Glonass). No issues found. GPS lock was fast well within 3 seconds.
Battery
The 2100 mAh battery gives talk-time of up to 11 hours. I used the handset for about 33 minutes running heavy apps and playing the Asphalt game, the battery dropped by 10% and max temperature was 33 degrees. You can play heavy games for about 4 to 5 hours.
Verdict
For price and considering the specifications it would be better to avoid the Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo. This Grand handset is a bit costlier than the Grand and cheaper than the Grand 2. Grand Neo should have been priced under Rs. 12,000. If you look at the dual core Grand, it is still a better choice, cheaper and can record 1080p videos that Neo can’t.
I think Samsung deliberately launched the Neo with Broadcom quad core to make the Grand and the Grand 2 look like a better option.
Neo Image Gallery
Sample Images
Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo handset and Gaming review
HD 720p video sample shot using the Neo handset
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