Fit for my purpose
I bought a Fit as a replacement for a lost/stolen Galaxy S and have not been too disappointed with what I got. (I wanted another S but sadly didn’t have the dough …. )
The box contained: Galaxy Fit, ear-buds, charger, 2Gb mini-SD card (I actually use a 16Gb one), USB lead, software mini-DVD and very minimal instruction book. (I am in Australia so “contents of the box may vary” as they say)
I knew that the Fit wouldn’t be as fast or flash as the S but nevertheless it does (more or less) what I need:
Making / taking calls is fine – speaker quality is clear and crisp. Microphone seems to be fine as no-one has complained about the clearness of the sound at their end.
I have found no real issues with the display - but it definitely is duller than the AMOLED of the S!
Small screen, definitely, when compared to the S, iPhone etc but adequate. (When used as a GPS, using Navigate, through the chaos that is Melbourne’s traffic system , the size of the screen was just right for the map displays and the speaker more than adequate for the oddly-accented lady who was telling us where to turn next.
Navigating around the phone was a little confusing at first because some of the usual options are not present, however once you’ve got used to it (as with any phone), it is actually quite easy to use.
I did have an issue moving music from my PC to the Fit initially because I was under the impression that I had to use Kies (bundled with the Fit). However, I discovered that the normal USB connect to PC option was still there – just not obvious – and went back happily to drag and drop.
Music player works just fine and copes with all my varied tastes as well as any other phone music player I have used . (I was supplied with ear-buds when I got my Fit but they were returned to the box after the first use and were replaced with a pair of Sennheisers. If I was going to use the radio, I would probably have to use the Samsungs ear-buds as they work better as an antenna but since I don’t use the radio …..)
Video playback is good using VPlayerPro with the display coping well with whatever is thrown at it. Video recording, on the other hand, is pretty basic - as expected from a low-end machine. Good enough to record my daughters violin concert but not Blu-Ray standard by any means!
The camera is the best bit of this phone – although, as with my S, there is NO flash (Samsung – wake up!!!). I took a couple of hundred photos during a trip from Brisbane to Melbourne recently in a variety of conditions and the results were consistently good. The picture quality was crisp and clear and the overall ease of use was good.
Playing games can be a hassle as noted in the review, as when games get busy, the processor tends to struggle a bit . Angry Birds works, but don’t expect a happy experience as the game will get jerkier the higher the level until it is almost painful to watch.. Simpler games such as Reversi work just fine..
Best attribute? camera – despite lack of a flash
Worst: SD card cover – the card doesn’t fit inside the body of the phone with the SIM, but instead is inserted into a slot on the left-hand side of phone. This would be OK if it wasn’t for the dodgy plastic cover that (sometimes) clips over the slot. Surely Samsung, wouldn’t it have been better to either have the card sitting inside the body of the phone with the SIM or at least put a sliding cover over it like the one used to cover the mini-USB connector???
My overall impression?
If you want the latest and best – go and buy a Galaxy S or S II
If you want a basic smart-phone without too many bells and whistles, the Fit might be just what you want
Biting the hand that feeds IT
