Big screen smartphones are really hot lately. So all premium smartphones have more than 4.5 inches screens. These are great phones that cost a lot. So Samsung decided to launch in January 2013 a big phone with lower price. That was Samsung Galaxy Grand. It was a hit. But it had average specs. Now, 11 months later, Samsung comes back with Samsung Galaxy Grand 2. It’s not Note 3, nor Galaxy S4, it’s a good phone with nice price and big screen. So we are going to compare Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 to Samsung Galaxy Grand and all other Android devices.
COMPARED TO GALAXY GRAND
Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 is better than the previous phone in every spec rated. So Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 has a bigger and better screen. Grand 2 has a 5.3 inches screen at 280PPI and Grand had a 5 inches screen at 162PPI. So the screen has better quality. The processor is also faster. The new device has a quad core processor (4 * 1.2GHz) compared to the dual processor or Galaxy Grand. The RAM is also bigger. Samsung put 1.5GB of RAM instead of 1GB of RAM. Although the phone is bigger and faster, it is slimmer (8.9mm to 9.6mm) and has almost the same weight (163g for Grand 2 and 162g for Grand). Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 has also a bigger battery (2600mAh to 2100mAh) and a newer Android version (4.3 over 4.1). So this is a true upgrade. Now let’s compare it to other phones.
COMPARED TO ALL ANDROID SMARTPHONES
It’s not easy to compare Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 to all Android smartphones as it belongs to multiple categories, phablets, nice price phones and dual sim ones. But let’s make a try.
SCREEN
Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 has a 5.25 inches screen, bigger than 5 inches and smaller than 5.5 or 5.7 monsters. So it’s a phablet with not so big, not so small screen. Not bad size for a phablet. There are not a lot of devices with the exact size, it’s only LG G Pro Lite and the old Samsung Galaxy Note. Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 has 280 pixels per inch, more than LG G Pro Lite (200PPI) but less than Note (285PPI). So we can understand Samsung put an older screen on a newer device. Compared to all Android phablets, Galaxy Grand 2 belongs to the “below 300PPI group”. There are two groups, more than 300PPI (with premium phablets) and less than 300PPI with cheaper devices. Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 has better screeen than Samsung Galaxy Note II, ZTE Grand Memo, Huawei Ascend Mate and Samsung Mega. ZTE Supreme has a better screen (285PPI). So for the price, it’s a good screen. And if you compare Grand to other dual SIM phones, it has also the best screen for its price.
CAMERA
In the phablet category, there are great camera phones like Sony Xperia Z1 with the 20.7MP camera. Of course there are premium phones with 13MP cameras that cost less like ZTE Grand Memo and ZTE Supreme. These phones are the main competitots of Samsung Galaxy Grand which has an 8MP camera. Of course the camera is great for a Samsung phone and you need to pay a lot of money if you want to upgrade to a 13MP camera. In the dual sim field, there is no 13MP camera, you have to choose one of the 8MP phones. Of course there is HTC One with 4MP camera with better technology but this phone belongs to the premium smartphones. Grand 2 has a great camera for the price, the camera is one of the advantages.
PROCESSOR
Grand has a quad core processor at 1.2GHz and 1.5GB of RAM. I don’t really understand why it has 1.5GB and not 2GB but RAM is good for the speed. The best phablets have 3GB of RAM, like Note 3. If you want more than 1.5GB of RAM, you need to upgrade to another money category. For the money you give, this phone gives you enough power. Compared to dual sim devices, Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 is fast. Of course there are premium smartphones with faster processors but, again, you have a great device with fast processor and dual sim capabilities.
BATTERY
If you buy a dual sim phone, you need a big battery. Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 has a 2600mAh battery. After Samsung Mega with the huge 6.3 inches screen and the 3200mAh battery, Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 is one of the dual sim phones with the biggest battery. Compared to all Android devices, there are a lot of devices with 3000mAh+ batteries and only ZTE Grand Memo and LG G Pro Lite come to a lower price.
SOFTWARE
There are not a lot of devices coming with Android 4.3 right from the start. Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 is one of them. In fact it’s the first medium budget phone that has Android 4.3 when you buy it. All other devices have 4.2 or older Android version. Compare to the Android phablets, HTC One Max, Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Samsung Galaxy Round have Android 4.3 and compared to dual sim devices, Galaxy Grand 2 is the only one with the latest Android version.
SIZE & DESIGN
Phablets are big devices with big screens so let’s compare Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 to other phablets. It is not slim, not fat, it’s just average. It is 8.9mm slim when Sony Xperia Z Ultra is just 6.5 but HTC One Max is 10.3. This is huge. Grand 2 is average on the weight too. With 163g it is far from the lighter (ZTE Grand Memo – 120g) and the heaviest (HTC One Max 217g). It’s a beautiful Samsung device you will love on your hands.
VERDICT – should I buy this device?
Samsung Galaxy Grand is a complex device because it belong to multiple categories at the same time. It’s not very expensive, it’s a phablet and is dual sim. 3 to 1. So it’s difficult to compare it to other devices. There is no other phablet dual sim at that price. So if you want a phone with a good camera, a fast processor that has a big screen and is also dual sim, this is it.
COMPARISON CHART
| Spec | Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 | Compared to: | with spec: | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Width | 8.9 | Huawei Ascend P6 | 6.2 | 56% |
| Weight | 163 | HTC Desire C | 100 | 37% |
| Screen PPI | 280 | HTC One | 469 | 60% |
| Camera MP | 8 | Nokia Lumia 1020 | 41 | 20% |
| 2nd Camera | 1.9 | Huawei Ascend P6 | 5 | 38% |
| Processor | 4 * 1.2 | Samsung Galaxy Note 3 | 8 * 1.9 | 32% |
| RAM MB | 1500 | Samsung Galaxy Note 3 | 3000 | 50% |
| Battery mAh | 2600 | Huawei Ascend Mate | 4050 | 64% |
| Android | 4.3 | Google Nexus 5 | 4.4 | 86% |
| Release Date | 2013-11 | - | Today | 100% |
| Our view | 65% | - | 100% | 65% |
| AVC rating method | Rated: 11/25/13 | Best price | Total Rating | 55.2% |