Samsung Galaxy S Advance Review

The model no. of Samsung Galaxy S Advance is GT-I9070. Here is my Review after using it for 4 months from August to November 2012.

The Goods
+ It is not too heavy, at 120 g.
+ The screen is good at a diagonal length of 4", with 480 x 800 pixel size.
+ Super AMOLED screen type is impressive.
+ 1 GHz processor seems to be fine for most operations.
+ Android OS is nice.
+ Google Play Store has a wide variety of free and paid apps to download.
+ Google Maps with voice navigation was introduced from first 1st week Sep-2012 in India.
+ The 5 MP Camera with auto-focus gives good results.
+ The configurable user interface with up to 7 pages of widgets is useful.
+ Internal 8 GB memory is good. External card expansion up to 32 GB by MicroSD or MicroSDHC.
+ Capability to work as a Wi-Fi hotspot is a handy feature when your other internet options are down.
+ Can charge the battery using the data cable also when connected to Computer USB port.

The Not so Goods
– Occasional sticky / staggering screen on Drive option in Maps was faced a few times.
– Google Maps voice is not as natural / attractive as Nokia Maps GPS used to be on Nokia X6.
– With a (flexi / rubber type) back cover, Power and Volume buttons get disturbed inadvertently.
(Since they are placed opposite to each other on either sides; one of them get pressed inadvertently when we try to operate the other... by virtue of the position we hold it to operate. So we need to constantly verify whether some settings through those buttons have been disturbed.)
– There is no physical button for Camera Shutter, which Nokia X6 had; this has only onscreen button.
– Under Android, can't do Bluetooth file transfer from a Computer via Windows Explorer.
– OS is only Android GingerBread 2.3; Upgrading to IceCreamSandwich 4.0 doesn't seem easy.
– Here is the BIG minus... Camera does not have Zoom feature. That is the biggest disappointment.
– The glossy screen is very reflective while viewing, and is also prone to fingerprints.
– Use a matt finish screen-guard cover, to overcome those. But the screen's attraction is gone.

Background
This is my first Android phone. Overall I like it. You can see some of the pictures taken using this phone's camera in my recent Caught Special post here.

Surely it was an expensive phone, costing around Rs 23.5k or even more in the market in July-2012. And I generally do not put a lot of money on these kind of value-depreciating stuffs. But, when I decided to replace my badly-damaged and life-dwindling Nokia X6 around end of July-2012, first I started the price search at a lot of stores... And I found everyone like Sangeetha, UniverCell, Mobile Store, etc. were selling it for around Rs 23.5k. But, unexpectedly I ran into Spice Hotspot outlet in Koramangala whose price was an attractive Rs 22.5k. And, on top of that, they bought-back my 2-year-old Nokia X6 for Rs 3.8k (Rs15.2k in June-2010). Plus, on top of it all, they gave me Free preloaded Apps worth Rs 2500, and then a Free MTV Sun Glasses as well (claimed to be worth Rs 3450, see pictures below). So, overall it worked out to be an attractive deal for me at... under Rs 18k!

Specifications
You can find the manufacturer's specifications here.

Pictures and Info

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