Samsung reveals the Galaxy Grand, a new smartphone with a 5-inch screen and Android 4.1.2

DIGITAL TRENDS [18/12/12]
By Andy Boxall

Samsung has announced the Galaxy Grand, a smartphone/tablet hybrid with a 5-inch screen, which fits in-between the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note in the company's ever-expanding range.

Samsung loves to make sure its range contains as many different screen sizes as possible, and it has continued its quest today with the announcement of the Galaxy Grand, a smartphone/tablet hybrid for those folk who consider the Galaxy S3 a bit small and the Note 2 a little too large.

As you may have guessed, the Galaxy Grand has a 5-inch touchscreen, a size all set to rise in popularity in 2013. Unfortunately the resolution isn’t quite as stunning as the Note 2 or Galaxy S3’s, coming in at 480 x 800, which is below both these two and the original Galaxy Note. Samsung hasn’t stated whether the screen is an AMOLED panel.

Inside the Galaxy Grand is a 1.2GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM, which although not as powerful as other big-screen phones, will still be plenty for normal use. The 8GB of internal storage memory may sound a little small, but Samsung has had the sense to add a microSD card slot to the Galaxy Grand, and it’ll accept cards up to 64GB in size.

Looks familiar

You may be looking at the image of the Galaxy Grand and thinking, “My, that looks familiar.” That’s because Samsung has played it very safe with the Grand’s design, and in the images it has so far provided, there’s little to differentiate it from the Galaxy S3 or even the smaller Galaxy Premier without seeing them alongside. Samsung has made sure the Galaxy Grand’s dimensions fit neatly in-between its two flagship devices too, as it measures 143 x 76 x 9.6mm, while the S3 is 136 x 70 x 8.6 and the Note 2 is 151 x 80 x 9.4.

An 8-megapixel camera is mounted centrally on the Galaxy Grand’s rear panel, while a 2-megapixel video call lens can be found above the screen. Other features include GPS, Bluetooth 4.0 and a 2100mAh battery, which given the average resolution screen and dual-core chip, should provide the handset with plenty of energy. Google Android is its operating system and Samsung has made the welcome decision to use the very latest version, 4.1.2 Jelly Bean.

Samsung hasn’t provided any information on the Galaxy Grand’s release or its projected cost, although it has announced a dual-SIM version will be launched alongside the standard version, so we can expect it to see a wide international release. Samsung is all set to have a strong showing at CES 2013, so we may learn about its Grand plan during the early January event.