SpecEagle
SpecEagle review · Samsung

Galaxy Grand review: A big 5" budget Samsung that brought phablet vibes to the mass market.

SpecEagle Editorial·Dec 2012·$340
Overall
38/100
Class rank
#1 of 1
Tier
Budget
Buy?
Look elsewhere
The verdict, up front

The mass-market 5-inch Galaxy.

Galaxy Grand brought a 5-inch screen and dual-SIM to budget buyers in 2012, hugely popular across emerging markets. Specs were modest, but the screen size and "Galaxy" branding sold it by the millions.

01Display

52/100

52/100 — right at the average for budget phones of 2012.

TypeTFT LCD
Size5.0 inches
Resolution800 × 480 px (WVGA)

02Camera

52/100

52/100 — right at the average for budget phones of 2012.

Main8 MP, autofocus, LED
Selfie2 MP
Video1080p

03Performance

40/100

40/100 — right at the average for budget phones of 2012.

ChipsetBroadcom BCM28155 dual-core 1.2 GHz
RAM1 GB
Storage8 GB · microSD

04Battery

58/100

58/100 — right at the average for budget phones of 2012.

Capacity2,100 mAh (removable)
Standby~ 440 hours

05Build

52/100

52/100 — right at the average for budget phones of 2012.

06Value

58/100

58/100 — right at the average for budget phones of 2012.

What works
  • 5" big screen at a budget price.
  • Dual-SIM in many regions.
  • Removable battery + microSD.
  • Got mass-market buyers into "Galaxy".
What doesn't
  • WVGA on a 5" panel.
  • Broadcom chip was modest.
  • 1 GB RAM.
  • Plastic build.

How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 1-phone cohort of budget devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .