I will do the review in 4 stages. Design, Features, Performance and a Conclusion
1. Design
When Samsung give me a brand new Galaxy Pro on Thursday i couldn't wait to get the box open and have a play with another new toy! The first thing that struck me was how light the phone actually is, Samsung surely have a way of packing top quality components into some of the lightest shells on the market and this is no exception.
The Galaxy Pro is based around the Candy-bar design that has become popular with Blackberry's such as the Bold and Curve range. You get a 2.8 capacitive touchscreen accompanied by a very capable QWERTY keypad (more on this later). The Pro is easy to hold in one hand and its thin and lightweight design means it would be easy to use for long calls.
The build quality is solid and the phone is housed in a silver aluminum like casing, all the features are easy to use with a standard headphone jack on the top of the device, power button on the right side and the volume rocker on the right. You have a menu, home, back and search key located under the screen that give a nice click feel when pressed.The usb/charging slot is located on the top of the phone and is protected by a sliding cover that was also seen on the Galaxy S.
2. Features
The biggest appeal of the Galaxy Pro is of course the QWERTY keypad that is also accompanied by a capacitive touchscreen, Android OS is now the biggest phone operating system in the world but so many of the android devices are based on a touchscreen interface but Samsung are offering something different with the Galaxy Pro.
I have found the GP keyboard to be really easy to use despite me having big fingers, I did own a Bold 9780 before but the keys are flat and very close to each other which meant it was actually no easier than a touchscreen and i often found that my thumbs hurt after typing out a long email or message. Samsung have countered this by making sure the keys on the Pro are large and well spaced, they keys also have a rubbery feel which aids comfort when your rocking out them long business emails or detailed Facebook messages.
Having a capacitive touchscreen with a QWERTY keyboard works really well, it means you can type really efficiently but also navigate through your gallery, web browser and home screens by simply swiping or tapping as you would on a normal android touchscreen device. Colours are vivid on the display but its not the best screen for reading big PDF files or eBooks due to a low pixel density, but the screen is perfectly adequate for editing a few documents or responding to emails. Display was usable under daylight conditions but i often found myself putting the brightness on full.
The Galaxy Pro runs Android Froyo 2.2 and Samsung's own touchwiz launcher which makes placing widgets and applications on your homescreen a breeze. Touchwiz gives you 3 homescreens which is plenty for a device of this size but if you wanted to add more there's always the option of downloading launcher pro or an alternative launcher from the market.
The GP also comes with Samsung's social hub! This allows you to keep up to date with your twitter, Facebook and other messages all in one location! You can also set it up to receive instant push email, from my first few hours of testing it works very well indeed.
Battery life has lasted me through the day so far but its hard to comment on how good it actually is without more testing!
The Galaxy Pro runs on a 800mhz processor but ill discuss that more in the next section
3. Performance
Over my first 24 hours of use the GP has remained snappy throughout everything i have tried to do, i have been able to send emails, texts, browse the web, install apps without any noticeable lag at all. Underneath the hood the Pro is housing a 800mhz processor, this may seem a little low compared to the 1.2ghz dual core that's in the flagship Galaxy S 2 but for what this phone is meant for it handles it all perfectly.
The Galaxy Pro isn't marketed for high end media power users, its aimed towards former Blackberry owners who want to make the change to Android without sacrificing there beloved QWERTY keyboard or for business users who need to type out long emails everyday. The GP features Wireless N which means your internet browsing and other internet based activities will be completed at top speed if your using a compatible router.
The GP packs a 3 megapixel camera on the back which is adequate for taking quick snaps but there isn't a flash so you wont be taking any great night photos.
4. Conclusion
I can honestly say that my first 24 hours using the Galaxy Pro have been pleasurable ones. The keyboard has been a nice change from using a touchscreen all the time and the phones battery life has lasted me all day without the need to rush to a charger.
The GP is perfect for any Blackberry owners that are looking to convert, it gives the Blackberry QWERTY experience but provides you with one of the best mobile operating systems, better web browsing, over 200,000 apps and other benefits that comes with the android package such as GPS navigation and gmail support.
I would definitely recommend this device to anyone who cant afford the flagship SGS2!
Thanks for reading, any questions feel free to ask :)
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