And, by the looks of it, it does - only topped by the latest flagships in our popularity chart. The Grand 2 improves on every bit that counts. It comes with a bigger 5.25" display without adding too much body fat - this year's model is just slightly taller. The bezels have been slimmed down and the resolution has gone up from WVGA (480 x 800) to 720p, resulting in a pixel density of the much more pleasing 280ppi (over 187ppi in the original).
Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
The design has been greatly improved as well: in comes the faux stitched leather at the back, out with the gloss of the older generation. The camera remains the same but processing is more robust, ditching the Broadcom dual-core Cortex-A9 CPU for a quad-core Cortex-A7 made by Qualcomm.
Key features
- Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE; quad-band 3G with HSPA, LTE
- Optional dual-SIM
- 5.25" 16M-color 720p capacitive touchscreen; 280ppi
- Android OS v4.3 Jelly Bean with TouchWiz UI
- Quad-core 1.2GHz Cortex-A7 CPU, Adreno 305 GPU; Qualcomm MSM8226 Snapdragon 400
- 1.5GB of RAM
- 8MP autofocus camera with LED flash, 1080p video recording @ 30fps
- 1.9MP front-facing camera
- Dual-band Wi-Fi b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, Wireless Hotspot
- GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS
- 8GB of built-in storage
- microSD card slot
- microUSB v2.0
- Bluetooth v4.0
- Stereo FM radio
- Standard 3.5mm audio jack
- Accelerometer and proximity sensor
- 2,600mAh battery; user replaceable
Main disadvantages
- Only 5GB of inbuilt storage available to user out of box
- No KitKat at launch
- Overly reflective screen with poor sunlight legibility
As for the equally important issue of price - the Galaxy Grand 2 isn't priced too high, starting at around €250, while the Grand currently costs around €160. There's also a dual-SIM version - in fact the one we're reviewing is carrying the Duos label.
Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 live pictures
Without doubt, Samsung has done a good job of making a credible package even more desirable. This is by no means a single pony race though, the Android landscape full of potential competitors, especially in this price range. Sony has contenders of its own and HTC will want to have a say too, while Samsung itself offers plenty of choice.
The Galaxy Grand 2 seems to have what it takes to stand out but we do need a closer look before any judgment is passed. Might as well start right away, the next page deals with the design and build.
Design
The Grand 2 is a 5.25” phone that is narrow enough for fairly comfortable use, and it's not too thick either. The new faux-leather style of the Grand 2, though, is deceptive, as the plastic on the back feels cheap.
The Galaxy Grand 2 adopts the faux-leather stitched design that Samsung first used in the Note 3, but while in the Note 3, the plastic features a soft and pleasant leathery feel, in the Grand 2, it feels like nothing more than just styled but still cheap plastic. Nonetheless, having this even most basic imitation of leather is better than dealing with the glossy plastic Samsung habitually used in the past - the patterned back of the Grand 2 does not get stained easily and has a better in-hand feel.
In terms of size, the body of the Grand 2 has gotten thinner (8.9mm vs 9.6mm thickness) and narrower (2.96” vs 3.03” width) than that of the original phone, and while it’s still hard to qualify the big-screened Grand 2 as slim, it’s a more ergonomic phone that is easier to use. The second-gen Grand is also solidly put together, and does not screek or squeal when you hold it tightly.
Controls
The placement of controls around the Galaxy Grand 2 is familiar enough. Samsung hasn't made any changes to the original formula. Samsung continue to insist on a physical Home button even on tablets, so the usual arrangement is found here too, a pair of capacitive Menu and Back keys either side. With no dedicated task switcher button on Samsung phones, it's a press and hold of the Home key that does the trick.
At the front
The power/lock button is at the right side, comfortably located within reach (of your right-hand thumb or left index finger, depending on which is your holding hand).
The right side
On the left side is the volume rocker only. The top features the 3.5mm headphone jack, while at the bottom there's a microUSB 2.0 port and a microphone pinhole. The Galaxy Grand 2 doesn't have a second microphone for noise-cancellation.
Left side, top and bottom
At the back of the Galaxy Grand 2, there's the 8MP camera lens, LED flash and a loudspeaker grille either side.
Around the back
Undoing the back panel reveals the removable battery, the two SIM card compartments and the microSD card slot.
Under the hood
Display
Gone is the pixelated screen of the original Grand - the Grand 2 features a bright, vivid, and sharp 5.25-inch 720p display.
The Galaxy Grand 2 comes with a large and overall fairly decent 5.25-inch LCD display with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels. Pixel density comes in at the quite reasonable 280ppi, so images and text appear sharp, unless you have the phone glued to your eyes. While higher-end devices nowadays come with much sharper displays, the screen on the Grand 2 is still a gigantic improvement over the one in the original Grand, and in itself is a fairly solid reason for an upgrade.In terms of colors, this is a very good display for the mid-range price category of the Grand 2. Colors are punchy and definitely vivid and lively, something that will be considered a plus by most users. However, those who care about perfect color accuracy would notice it's a bit on the cold side, plus there is some oversaturation. Viewing angles are below average, and at a wider angle, colors start looking washed out.
While the Grand 2 has a very bright display, outdoors it’s still hard to read as screen reflections are just too noticeable. On the flip side, though, the handset can get down to very low minimum brightness of just 5 nits, a level that makes it very comfortable to read at extremely low light or at night without too much screen glow that tires the eyes.
Battery life
The Galaxy Grand 2 boasts a more wholesome 2,600mAh battery to trump the original Grand's 2,100mAh unit. Samsung's numbers point to around 370 hours of standby with two SIMs and talk time of 17 hours.
The battery
Our tests revealed an impressive 20 hours of calling time and good performance in both web browsing and video playback. The dual-SIM stand-by however took its toll and brought the Galaxy Grand 2 overall rating of 45 hours. That's how long the phone will go between charges with an hour of calling, browsing and watching video daily.
Quad-core power
The Grand 2 has a quad-core processor, clocked at 1.2GHz. Other phones have more powerful chips, but I suspect this processor will prove more than capable of handling high-resolution video, and the odd bit of gaming. Gliding through menus and home screens feels very slick, and I didn't notice any lag or stutter.On the back of the Grand 2 there's an 8-megapixel camera. Sensor resolution alone is rarely a good indicator of a camera's power to capture great images, so stay tuned for the full review to find out what kind of photos the Grand 2 can produce. One thing we do know however is that Samsung has loaded this phone with its usual assortment of camera modes, including the oddly-named Beauty Face, which ruthlessly smooths away any imperfections the camera perceives on your (already lovely, I'm sure) face. 'Best Face', 'Best Photo', and 'Continuous Shot' are also on board.
Speaking of overwhelming varieties of software, the Grand 2 is also packed with Samsung apps, including Story Album, S Translator, S Travel, Samsung Hub, and Samsung Link. How many of these bespoke apps you'll really use is definitely up for debate -- with the new Galaxy S5 for instance, Samsung has tried to simplify its interface a bit, suggesting that most customers haven't enjoyed being swamped with apps they may never even open.
No 4G, but dual-SIM
One definite downside to the Galaxy Grand 2 is that there's no LTE support, so you'll be relegated to 3G speeds when it comes to mobile data and downloads. On the plus side, there's dual-SIM support for those who regularly need access to two different SIM-cards.Android 4.3 Jelly Bean with TouchWiz
The Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 runs on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean skinned with Samsung's TouchWiz UX. Its predecessor is going to get KitKat later this year, so hopefully Galaxy Grand 2 will get the same treatment even sooner.The good news is that even without the KitKat optimizations, the Galaxy Grand 2 manages to run the user interface and most Android applications without much stuttering, thanks to the 720p display resolution.
We've shot a quick video showing off the user interface to give you a feel of what it's like.
The homescreen is identical to what you get on most Samsung devices since the Jelly Bean release. You can move between multiple panes with left or right swipes.
Galaxy Grand 2 homescreen
Swiping down from the top bar reveals the notification area, where you'll see five toggles at the top, which are used to quickly enable and disable some of the phone's features. You can reveal more by swiping left, or simply display a full list. There are dedicated SIM shortcuts for quick switching between the two SIM cards.
A two finger swipe down on the notification banner directly opens the grid of toggles, and holding down on a toggle will directly take you to the relevant setting. Otherwise, swipe left or right to quickly dismiss a notification, or tap it for more information.
The notification area with quick toggles
You can pinch zoom to get into the overview mode of all homescreen panes, where you can have as many as 7.
Dragging an app or widget onto a homescreen is made easier thanks to the small thumbnails that show up with silhouettes of how they're populated. This gives you an at-a-glance look at how much room you have to work with on each homescreen.
Managing the homescreen panes • Adding widgets
The app drawer can be sorted as a customizable grid, alphabetized grid or list and some shortcuts can be hidden - good for bloatware you can't uninstall.
The app drawer
The App switcher (accessed by holding down the home button) shows a list of thumbnails of all the recent apps, which can be swiped away to dismiss. There are three buttons at the bottom: Task manager, Google Now and Kill all apps.
The app switcher lets you free up RAM as well
As usual Google Now is here to let you use voice commands and integrates with your Google account to provide all sorts of information from internet searches to your daily routine, localized traffic, and current weather conditions.
Samsung devices also come with the included S Voice voice assistant. While Google Now focuses on more search related and organizational activities, S Voice allows you to control your phone directly. You can call, text, launch apps, control music, change sound settings and much more.
Google Now and S Voice
Source
Phone Arena Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 Reviews (8.5/10)
Pros
- Vivid 5.25-inch 720p display
- Snapdragon 400 is fast, Android runs with almost no lag
- 2600mAh battery will last you a full day (and probably more)
- 8-megapixel camera captures nice images, smooth video
- Expandable storage
- User-removable battery
Cons
- Dated Android 4.3 Jelly Bean on board
- Latest TouchWiz is not included
- Limited amount of internal storage: 8GB, only 5GB user-available
CNET Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 Reviews
Official Website
Where to Buy
Official Website
$339.99 WElectronics SAMSUNG GALAXY GRAND 2 G7102 DUAL SIM
$317.50 - $333.50 NegriElectronics Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
$321.00 Amazon Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 Dual Sim, 8MP, 8GB, Quad-Core Factory Unlocked World Mobile Phone - White* + $3.95 shipping
$304.01 Amazon Samsung Galaxy Grand II Duos G7102 Black Factory Unlocked Android Phone* + $4.99 shipping
$314.94 Amazon Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 Duos - SM-G7102 (Unlocked) (850/900/1900/2100MHz)*+ $4.89 shipping
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