Hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy Prevail for Boost Mobile
CNET offers its first impressions of the Boost Mobile's newest Android smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy Prevail.
NEW YORK--No big surprise, but Boost Mobile made it official and introduced the Samsung Galaxy Prevail on Monday evening, its very first CDMA Android smartphone.
Available later this month for $179.99 sans contract and with a $50 monthly plan that includes unlimited voice, text, and data (also eligible for Boost's Shrinkage plan), the Galaxy Prevail is a welcome addition to the carrier's smartphone lineup. We had a chance to check out the Android 2.2 device at the unveiling event this evening, and though the handset might not offer some of the higher-end features of its other Galaxy S siblings, we think it's shaping up to be a pretty good deal.
The handset measures 4.4 inches tall by 2.26 inches wide by 0.47 inch thick and weighs a light 3.8 ounces. It's comfortable to hold with a soft-touch finish on back (something we'd actually love to see on the higher-end Galaxy S phones) and easily slips into a pants pocket. The display measures 3.5 inches diagonally and has an HVGA resolution, so you're losing a bit in size and sharpness, but it's also to be expected with such an entry-level device. Plus, the touch screen is still sharp and bright enough to get the job done.
The Galaxy Prevail doesn't run Samsung's TouchWiz user interface, so you're getting a pure Android experience. The smartphone does come preloaded with a few extra apps, including Swype, Facebook, Twidroyd, TeleNav GPS Navigator, and ThinkFree Office. Of course, you can download more from the Android Market. There's only about 124MB of internal phone storage, but Boost ships the Prevail with a 2GB microSD card.
There's a 2-megapixel camera on back, but it lacks a flash. I took a couple of quick sample photos though and was pleasantly surprised at the decent picture quality. Even though, the images were taken in dimly lit rooms, they were still bright. The Prevail's general performance also felt fairly responsive, with an 800MHz processor under the hood.
Of course, we'll do much more testing in the days to come. We actually have a review unit in hand, so definitely check back in a couple of days for our final verdict. In the meantime, peep our photo gallery below for a closer look at the Samsung Galaxy Prevail.
