Samsung Galaxy Exhilirate – hands on review

The Samsung Galaxy Exhilirate is touted as an eco-friendly phone. 80{70e867cd2e68ee364b0db292aa41535b9c15b30eb7036e6526ebd577e85c0c0a} of the phone has been constructed from recycled parts. What’s more, it seems to be a feature-rich phone for a throwaway price. This latest iteration by Samsung is offered on the AT&T network and is built to be compatible with the 4G LTE network. The speeds offered on this phone as tested by speedtest.net are amazing. Be sure that your area has the LTE network before you go for this phone.

At first glance, the phone’s specification sheet had us impressed. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 chipset which as 2 Scorpion cores each clocking in at 1.2 GHz, and is supported by 1GB RAM. The phone comes with 4GB built in memory with a micro SSD slot for further expansion. As this phone is an Android based, features such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS come with built-in apps for operating them. The phone’s clear 4-inch AMOLED display that has WVGA resolution is a major plus, as is the 5MP camera. The camera comes with an LED flash that helps in low light conditions.

We were a tad irritated that out of the box the phone was powered by Android Gingerbread, rather than the upgraded Ice Cream Sandwich update, considering the fact that this phone has the juice to handle ICS.  The phone measures 4.8 inches by 2.5 inches. Dimensionally it is similar to the Galaxy S3 except for the fact that it is much thicker. This allows it to sport a 3.5mm jack for headphones. It feels similar to an iPhone 4S that has a case on.

The phone is great in accessing Google’s online services, and essential apps like maps and navigation, Google music and the calculator. It’s nice to note that Swype keyboard is available as an input option. Since it is an AT&T phone that comes with a 2 year contract, a number of apps have been included, like its scanner app, mobile U-verse app and the MyAT&T account manager. Samsung too has added its share of apps like the Media Hub, Social Hub, AllShare and Kies Air. The app tray also has an Amazon.com and Amazon Kindle app.

The phone camera is pretty good for indoor photography. There’s enough clarity, though the centre of the picture has a pinkish tinge while the corners are dark. In outdoor conditions, sometimes the color rendition is not up to the mark. Tapping the screen to focus is enabled but requires a steady arm to get it right. Some of the pictures had the centre of the image focussed but not the other portions. The beauty of this camera lies in its ability to shoot 720p HD video which doesn’t disappoint. The front facing camera is just about adequate for video chats.