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Hardware
At first look it seems just like your holding the old Champ Duos but give it a closer look and you'll realize this one has a 0.2-inches bigger display (2.8 inches) and different keys layout at the bottom. The phone feels light weighted at 88g ; although built entirely out of plastic, the back of the phone looks brushed metallic with all those lines.
The rear camera is situated at top center with the speakers lying on the left as neighbors. That's all at the back. The 3.5mm headphone jack is left open on the top and so is the USB 2.0 jack at bottom.The volume keys and unlock button lie on left and right side of the body respectively. On the front, at the top lies Samsung's ChatON logo and at the bottom of the screen are the three click-able buttons (Dial & Power) with the center big button acting for back command and when on home screen it acts as switch button between the two SIM cards.
Open the back cover and you'll find an interchangeable 1000mAh battery. Now remove the battery and here you have your nicely placed dual-sim slots. The complete build quality is all plastic but that won't bother you or won't harm your phone even if you fall it down.
The rear camera is situated at top center with the speakers lying on the left as neighbors. That's all at the back. The 3.5mm headphone jack is left open on the top and so is the USB 2.0 jack at bottom.The volume keys and unlock button lie on left and right side of the body respectively. On the front, at the top lies Samsung's ChatON logo and at the bottom of the screen are the three click-able buttons (Dial & Power) with the center big button acting for back command and when on home screen it acts as switch button between the two SIM cards.
Open the back cover and you'll find an interchangeable 1000mAh battery. Now remove the battery and here you have your nicely placed dual-sim slots. The complete build quality is all plastic but that won't bother you or won't harm your phone even if you fall it down.
Software
Just like the old Champ came with a down-sized version of Samsung's TouchWiz UI, the same is present here. This Lite version feels cramped up into a small screen with seven customizable home screens; on top of that throw-in some widgets and app shortcuts, there you have a functional smartphone like home screen. The only noteworthy addition we found in this Deluxe version is Samsung's ChatON multi-platform messaging client, other than that everything present in the old Champ Duos is loaded here.
Social networking apps like Facebook, Twitter and the proprietary Samsung Apps store which is nowhere near to Android Market or Apple Store is packed in. The Facebook app took years to open. Pre-loaded Java games like Cricket, Asphalt 6 and Let's Golf are included. But hey! whom am I kidding? There's no fun in playing these. The standard browser works just fine only with Google but don't expect it to wonders in handling other media-rich websites. As Samsung has advertised on the box that they have included a lite version of the Opera Mini Browser, well, we tried opening it 6 times and every time it crashed.
The stock Music Player has a few preset equalizers and is loud enough for everyone to hear in a room. Headphones provided by Samsung are standard and okay for daily usage.
Display
The small 2.8-inch display with 240x320 resolution does no wonders. In broad daylight, it did create problems with the display colors washing out due to sunlight. The screen is prone to fingerprints spots.
I found myself touching this resistive touchscreen a 100 times to select an app or a command. Roaming around in the menus isn't easy, the touch screen decides for itself and even when you just needed to scroll down, it will select an app instead going down. If you're a text addict, then this isn't the phone for you. Typing on the touch keyboard took me lots of time due to repetitive touch attempts and slow response. Navigating the homescreen and menus is buggy. End of the story - capacitive touchscreens are a must and this resistive touch screen is out-dated.
Connectivity
Forget 3G connection for this price but what's shocking is that Samsung just forgot to add Wi-fi connectivity which is apparently present on the old Champ Duos. So, your left with other connectivity options like GPRS, Bluetooth 3.0 and USB 2.0. No fast-speed surfing here.
Wrap-up
The battery life was no issue here. The phone lasted a good one and half day. Internal memory of 50MB might get filled up quickly but don't worry, you can expand it up to 16GB via microsd card.
The old Samsung Champ seems better and the Deluxe version only adds a bigger screen and ChatOn messaging service. Okay, so now forget Wi-fi connectivity, forget resistive touch screen, forget below-par video quality. If you're ready to forget all this to get your hands on with this little deluxe version of Samsung Champ with dual sim capabilities and standard day-to-day usage, then go get it at the price of Rs. 4700 or else at an even cheaper rate for Rs. 3925 at flipkart.
(We will soon update camera and video quality)
Just like the old Champ came with a down-sized version of Samsung's TouchWiz UI, the same is present here. This Lite version feels cramped up into a small screen with seven customizable home screens; on top of that throw-in some widgets and app shortcuts, there you have a functional smartphone like home screen. The only noteworthy addition we found in this Deluxe version is Samsung's ChatON multi-platform messaging client, other than that everything present in the old Champ Duos is loaded here.
Social networking apps like Facebook, Twitter and the proprietary Samsung Apps store which is nowhere near to Android Market or Apple Store is packed in. The Facebook app took years to open. Pre-loaded Java games like Cricket, Asphalt 6 and Let's Golf are included. But hey! whom am I kidding? There's no fun in playing these. The standard browser works just fine only with Google but don't expect it to wonders in handling other media-rich websites. As Samsung has advertised on the box that they have included a lite version of the Opera Mini Browser, well, we tried opening it 6 times and every time it crashed.
The stock Music Player has a few preset equalizers and is loud enough for everyone to hear in a room. Headphones provided by Samsung are standard and okay for daily usage.
Display
The small 2.8-inch display with 240x320 resolution does no wonders. In broad daylight, it did create problems with the display colors washing out due to sunlight. The screen is prone to fingerprints spots.
I found myself touching this resistive touchscreen a 100 times to select an app or a command. Roaming around in the menus isn't easy, the touch screen decides for itself and even when you just needed to scroll down, it will select an app instead going down. If you're a text addict, then this isn't the phone for you. Typing on the touch keyboard took me lots of time due to repetitive touch attempts and slow response. Navigating the homescreen and menus is buggy. End of the story - capacitive touchscreens are a must and this resistive touch screen is out-dated.
Connectivity
Forget 3G connection for this price but what's shocking is that Samsung just forgot to add Wi-fi connectivity which is apparently present on the old Champ Duos. So, your left with other connectivity options like GPRS, Bluetooth 3.0 and USB 2.0. No fast-speed surfing here.
Wrap-up
The old Samsung Champ seems better and the Deluxe version only adds a bigger screen and ChatOn messaging service. Okay, so now forget Wi-fi connectivity, forget resistive touch screen, forget below-par video quality. If you're ready to forget all this to get your hands on with this little deluxe version of Samsung Champ with dual sim capabilities and standard day-to-day usage, then go get it at the price of Rs. 4700 or else at an even cheaper rate for Rs. 3925 at flipkart.
(We will soon update camera and video quality)