Samsung Galaxy Grand 2, the second
device in Samsung’s hugely popular
Grand series, was released in
December 2013. I wrote a post about it
then describing Grand 2’s main
features and specifications. But this
post is going to be about Grand 2 also.
I recently got the chance to try out
Grand 2 over a period of several days.
And as my familiarity with this device
increased, so did my appreciation of it.
Galaxy Grand 2 is a big screen phone,
possessing many of the features found
in Samsung’s flagship phones. But
Grand 2 makes these features
available at much less the price of
phones like Galaxy S4 or Note 3. And
as long as you don’t put it side by side
with such high-end phones, it is
capable enough of giving the users the
feel of using a premium device.
So, here are some of the things that
especially delighted me in Grand 2:
Display: Grand 2 has a big 5.25” HD
(1280×720) TFT display . That is, it
has a big, bright display which can
make reading, browsing net, using
social networking sites, watching
videos easier and more fun. When you
compare the display of Grand 2 with
high-end devices like S3, S4 etc, you
will sure notice a difference. The
colours of the more expensive devices
will look brighter and the pictures
crispier and with better contrast. But
by itself, Grand 2’s display is quite a
pleasure.
Performance: Grand 2 has Quad Core
1.2GHz processor, 1.5GB (RAM) and
Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) . And these
specifications ensure that the
functioning of Grand 2 is smooth and
stable. In the ten days that I used this
device, it never once suffered a lag or
hang up. I found its operation swift and
smooth, even while multi-functioning.
Multi-Window: Grand 2 is capable
of multi-functioning through features
like multi window and pop up player.
Using multi window, the user can
easily operate two apps together. The
feature also includes easy drag and
drop capability which allows for
content to be copied and pasted from
one app to another by easy drag and
drop. The pop up player allows the
users to continue watching the video
even while using other apps like
Messages, internet browser etc.
Keyboard: I liked the keyboard of
Grand 2 a lot too. It has continuous
input, that is, words can be typed just
by sweeping the finger from one letter
to the other. What I liked best about
the keyboard is that the numbers are
displayed above the letters. So there’s
no need to keep on shifting between
letters and numbers while typing. I
didn’t have any problem with the word
prediction either.
Easy Home: Grand 2 has
Samsung’s TouchWiz launcher, of
course, both in general mode and easy
mode. I didn’t notice many differences
in the general mode. But there’s a
whole lot of difference in the easy
mode. I actually liked the simple look
of the Easy Mode in Grand 2! One
might even use it just for the sake of
variety!
Camera: Grand 2 has 8MP (HD) rear
camera with AF + LED Flash. Front
camera is 1.9MP (HD) . Camera modes
include Best Face, Best Photo,
Continuous Shot, Sports Dual Shot,
Shake Detection . It has full HD video
recording capability. The video
recording also allows the recording to
be paused, and then resumed. There
are no special effects, however, in the
camera. The camera can be controlled
using voice commands.
Lockscreen: The Lockscreen of Grand
2 has several customization options.
The clock on lockscreen has three size
variations. Several other lockscreen
widgets can be added to operate
several functions right from the
lockscreen. The screen on the right
side of the default lockscreen is
reserved for just two widgets. One is
the Camera widget which switches the
camera On right from the lockscreen.
The other is Favourite Apps widgets on
which shortcuts to favourite apps can
be added. Only one of these two
widgets can be used at a time. Several
other app shortcuts can also be added
to the dock of the lockscreen. Also,
Grand 2 has two different unlock
effects – the ripple effect and the light
effect.
One handed Operation: Samsung
Galaxy Grand 2 is a big screen phone.
Using such a big touch screen may not
be very easy for everyone. To make it
easy, Grand 2 has the option to switch
to the one-handed operation by
reducing the size of the dial pad,
keyboard and even other screens. The
position of these can be switched to
left or right easily.
Voice Commands: Several functions
can be carried out using just the voice
commands. Four Wake Up commands
can be set up to access different apps
of the phone. S Voice can be used to
perform Search, set up Alarms, check
weather etc. Also, using voice
commands, one can control camera,
music player, radio, alarm etc.
Safety Assistance: Another feature
that I really liked is called Safety
Assistance. This feature can prove
really helpful in case of an emergency
situation. Safety Assistance can be
triggered by pressing the volume up
and down key for three, four seconds.
When triggered, it sends emergency
message, along with location details,
to pre-selected contacts. It also has
an option to send the pictures of the
surrounding. These pictures are
automatically clicked using both the
front and back camera.
My Magazine: Just sweep upwards
from the bottom of the Home Screen
and it will load up My Magazine. My
Magazine makes available three kinds
of content in one place. Using just this
one feature, users can read news
items, view content from their social
networking sites, and content stored
on the phone like their pictures etc.
Using the shortcuts available within My
Magazine, one can also access
Dialers, Messages, Camera etc. This is
one feature that I really like and wish it
was available on my phone.
Overall, I quite like Samsung Galaxy
Grand 2. With moderate usage, its
battery lasted for two days. I found the
functioning swift and smooth. It is
loaded with many great features. Over
all, for smartphone costing about
twenty thousand rupees, it has a lot to
offer.
