Samsung is a clever and fast reacting company. LG just announced a curved flexible screen and Samsung, days after, launched in the market the first curved premium smartphone. This is exciting to see and the specs are also very good but is the curved screen and the specs enough to make Samsung Galaxy Round the ultimate must buy device? Let’s see and compare this device to all other Android premium smartphones.
SCREEN
The screen of Samsung Galaxy Round is what this phone is all about. This is a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 phone with a curved screen. This is not a flexible phone, if it falls down, it crashes. It just has a different design from all other phones. We call that innovation but is this a useful innovation? The screen fits best in your hand and you can hold it as it was designed to fit in your hands. It also fits best in your pocket as it has a curved design. But all that money for that? Samsung added also the Roll Effect, when the phone is on the table, you roll it with your finger and it shows the time and the date. Impressive? No. I can’t find any other usability of that screen beyond the wow factor. Let’s talk specs now. The phone has the same screen as Samsung Galaxy Note 3, an AMOLED with 386 pixels per inch. This is the best screen in 5.7 inches but now the best screen generally as there are at least 8 phones with more pixels per inch like HTC One, Huawei Ascend D2 or Sony Xperia Z. Even Samsung Galaxy S4 has more pixels per inch. That doesn’t mean that Samsung Galaxy Round screen is not one of the best. But who cares? Everybody will be amazed by the curved design, there is no other phone with that design. Keep that in mind.
CAMERA
Samsung Galaxy Round has a 13MP camera, one of the biggest in the Android market. Of course there are much better camera phones in the Android market like Sony Xperia Z1 with the super 20.7Mp camera or Nokia Lumia 1020 with the 41MP camera. But in the Android field, a 13MP camera is on the top field with all premium devices having a 13MP camera like Sony Xperia Z, Samsung Galaxy S4, LG optimus G Pro and even ZTE Grand Memo. So no surprises here. The phone has also a 2MP camera in the front and all the camera software we used to see in Samsung devices. A strong camera phone but not a game changing one.
PROCESSOR
Samsung has two versions of processors in the premium phones like Samsung Galaxy S4 and Samsung Galaxy Note 3 but in Samsung Galaxy Round there is no octa core version. Although the two processor versions choice is not one of the smartest, we like the processor of Samsung Galaxy Round because it is fast and with the 3GB of RAM, it gives you one of the fastest phones on the market. Right now only two phones have 3GB of RAM and both of them belong to Samsung (Note 3 and Galaxy Round). So with Galaxy Round, you have one of the fastest devices of the market.
BATTERY
In the battery field, the curved design maybe a problem for Samsung as the biggest battery of Note 3 couldn’t fit. So the 3200mAh battery of Note 3 was replaced by a 2800mAh camera that is not sufficient. There are a lot of phones with biggest and better batteries smaller than Samsung Galaxy Round, or even bigger like Samsung Mega with 3200mAh and of course Huawei Ascend Mate with the biggest battery of the market, a 4050mAh huge monster battery for a huge 6.1 inches phone. Samsung Galaxy round has a lot of battery options to help you preserve the battery but this is not enough. The company had to sacrifice the battery to the design. Take it or leave it.
SOFTWARE
Samsung Galaxy Round is a new device so it is normal to have the latest Android version right now on the market. Android 4.3 is the best version right now and there are not a lot phones with that version so this is one of the advantages of Round. You can also find Android 4.3 preinstalled in Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and in some other phones that are updated like Nexus 4. Samsung has a lot of customizations on the software and we like the notification bar and all the software added on the phone. Of course a lot of users prefer a clean version but this is a personal matter. Samsung Galaxy Round is a software rich phone with a lot of apps and addons.
SIZE & DESIGN
This phone is beautiful, the curved design makes it special. It’s not another plactic device, it’s something unique that will create buzz. That’s why it has a really high price, you buy a strong device but also a status. You are unique with this unique curved phone. It’s a slim device with 7.9mm but not the slimmest. Huawei Ascend P6 is the slimmest device right now with 6.2mm and Sony Xperia Z Ultra is also very thin (6.5mm). Samsung Galaxy Round is not the lighter either. It weighs 154g and this is normal as the screen is huge. It is lighter than Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (168g) but heavier than ZTE Grand Memo 5.7 inches phone (120g). But we are talking about a beautiful metal phone, a magnet for eyes.
VERDICT – should I buy this phone?
Samsung Galaxy Round is a great phone, one of the best. The design is unique and it also has some of the best specs in the camera, processor and RAM fields. Does this make it the best phone of the market? That depends. In the phablet category, the only phone that can compete with Samsung Galaxy Round is Samsung Galaxy Note 3. But Note 3 doesn’t have a killer design, it doesn’t have a curved screen and you cannot play with Roll Effect. But Note 3 has other advantages. So decide between the two.
1. If you want a status phone, a phone that has something unique that can be spotted by friends and the girls (yes), buy Samsung Galaxy Round
2. If you want the best phablet of the market try Samsung Galaxy Note 3, it has a bigger battery and more features.
3. If you want a special design phone which is also strong and useful, try Huawei Ascend P6, the slimmest Android device right now or Sony Xperia Z Ultra.
COMPARISON CHART
| Spec | Samsung Galaxy Round | Compared to: | with spec: | Score | Buy now: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Width | 7.9 | Huawei Ascend P6 | 6.2 | 73% | Samsung Galaxy Round |
| Weight | 154 | HTC Desire C | 100 | 46% | |
| Screen PPI | 386 | HTC One | 469 | 82% | |
| Camera MP | 13 | Nokia Lumia 1020 | 41 | 32% | |
| 2nd Camera | 2 | Huawei Ascend P6 | 5 | 40% | |
| Processor | 4 * 2.3 | Samsung Galaxy Note 3 | 8 * 1.9 | 61% | |
| RAM MB | 3000 | Samsung Galaxy Note 3 | 3000 | 100% | |
| Battery mAh | 2800 | Huawei Ascend Mate | 4050 | 69% | |
| Android | 4.3 | Google Nexus 4 | 4.3 | 100% | |
| Release Date | 2013-10 | - | Today | 100% | |
| Our view | 75% | - | 100% | 75% | |
| AVC rating method | Date Rated: | 2013-10-09 | Total Rating | 70.7% | Best price |