Samsung Galaxy Pocket

Editor's Review of the Galaxy Pocket

Awww, isn't it just adorable? The Galaxy Pocket is Samsung's smallest Android offering, with a 2.8" touchscreen and standing (or lying) at just 103.7mm. But the general trend for weeny 'pocket' things has waned in recent years, mainly due to the large amount of content we like to see on a single smartphone OS screen. Is there room (not that it demands that much) for the Galaxy Pocket in a market that has recently been thinking of bigger as better?

Design & Build

If you really are looking for a phone you could slip in an egg cosy, then forget about the Galaxy Mini. This is the smallest phone of the Samsung family, at just 103.7mm of thickness and weighing 97g. My view on this, however, has always been that these phones make up in thickness what they lack in height. At 12mm wide, the Pocket will give those trendy skinny jeans a bit of a stretch, which kind of defeats the purpose of its own name.

The phone goes for the 'pebble' Samsung design, looking like the chubby baby of the Galaxy S3. It's not a bad look though, with the style not necessarily giving away the fact that this is a budget handset. The home button is relatively big compared to the rest of the phone, and you won't have too much trouble pressing it, unlike some of the stuff on the tiny screen.

This brings us to the 2.8" 256k-colour QVGA display. Given that smartphones these days are largely used for internet browsing, photos and video-viewing, the Galaxy Pocket comes up short (take the pun as you please). Images are blocky, it's tough to see in sunlight, and it has one of the weaker pixel resolutions out there. In other words, the screen serves only your most basic smartphone needs.

OS & Performance

It goes without saying that Android 2.3 Gingerbread (still the most popular Android version at time of writing) is a fine OS. Combined with Samsung's TouchWiz UI, it's a joy to use, although the limited screen size will definitely make it awkward for those with dumpier fingers.

There are seven homescreens for you to fill out, with the option of deleting them to speed things up. The homescreen notifications bar provides quick and handy access to WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS toggling.

The single-core 832MHz processor runs things pretty much as you'd expect. The low screen resolution means that most of your standard OS functions will work fine, but don't expect to be using any of the more exciting, high-end apps that Google Play has to offer.

Camera

The Pocket packs in a lot given its size, but it was always going to be tough to have it all. The 2MP camera here is rudimentary, although it does shoot at up to 1600 x 1200 resolutions. That's the end of the good news though, as photos are washed out, grainy and with poor white balance no matter how good your shooting conditions are. The 15fps QVGA video-shooting is pretty much useless.

Software & Multimedia

The Galaxy Pocket features Samsung's usual high-quality variety of pre-installed apps. Voice input, a Swype keyboard, and Google Talk are all accounted for. G-Talk is particularly handy, allowing you to link it up and communicate with such instant messaging services as Pidgin, Kopete and iChat.

The TouchWiz music player onboard here is conveniently customisable and user-friendly, allowing you to choose which filters you organise your collection with. The presence of 5.1 surround sound virtualisation is also a neat touch, with the sound quality being surprisingly high.

Battery, Storage & Connectivity

The 1200mAh battery is a decent size given the size of its host, and you can get a much better run out of it than most smartphones. Medium-duty users can expect a good two days of use before needing to top it up.

For such a little bugger, the Pocket really is pretty handy for storage. Alongside the perfectly acceptable 3GB of internal memory, you can expand it by a further 32GB via microSD, making it a handy, low-cost little media centre.

All the usual connectivity options are squeezed into the Pocket's small frame as well. Bluetooth 3.0, WiFi and admittedly modest HSDPA speeds of up to 3.6Mbps. No particularly exciting or unpleasant surprises here.

Conclusion

The Galaxy Pocket is tiny and, as expected, most of its ups and downs are related to its size. While some are drawn to the idea of a matchbox-sized phone (almost), it does suffer when it comes to screen quality, picture-taking and navigation for those with even medium-sized hands.

That being said, you get basic access to most of the features on what remains a hugely popular and efficient operating system. The Pocket won't be too hard on your pocket either, and can be picked up for around £100. It's seriously entry-level, but it might just be worth it for that price.