Dual-SIM Android coming to town – Gigabyte GSmart G1355 gets in front of our camera
Android is solidifying itself as the most versatile smartphone OS of all times. It ships into all sorts of form factors, display sizes, price ranges and as of lately, there’s even a dual-SIM variety.
The highlight of the recently announced GSmart G1355 are its dual-SIM capabilities. It gives users seamless two cards operation – you can receive and make calls with both SIMs at any given moment and the same goes for messaging. Before sending a text or commencing a call you’re prompted to choose which SIM you want to use.
In the SIM manager menu you can give different names to your SIM cards, select the default one for calling, data connection and change the APN. The only drawback is that the GSmart G1355 doesn’t offer a hot-swappable SIM slot on the side and you’ll have to remove the battery in order to change SIMs.
Perhaps the main attraction of the G1355 is the large 4.3″ no-spoils display of WVGA resolution. It’s a relatively good quality display with nice and wide viewing angles but less than stellar sunlight legibility due to the high surface reflectivity.
The GSmart G1355 runs on an 800 MHz single-core Snapdragon processor, which may be something of a letdown for some. The Android transition effects are not particularly snappy, but that may as well be a software setting since we didn’t notice any particular lag or hold-ups in day-to-day usage.
There’s a 5 MP camera with a single LED flash on the back of the GSmart G1355 – read further for samples.
The GSmart G1355
The GSmart G1355 is a robust device weighing the hefty 168 g but it stays relatively thin at just 11.5 mm. It does feel somewhat thick but it’s nothing that much worse than say… an LG Optimus 2X. Speaking of LG, the GSmart’s back panel offers the same rubbery-feel plastic we enjoyed on the Optimus 2X and 3D.
One quarrel we have with the G1355 is that being as big it makes us wander why get a super-sized droid to fill your two SIM needs when it’s about as big as two dual-SIM X2-02′s.
The GSmart G1355
We’ve prepped some camera samples made with the GSmart G1355. They’re not anything special, in fact they are terrible. The focus is all wrong and we found the camera to be very slow, taking about 4-5 seconds to snap a photo, which led to rolling shutter effects. Our unit is a pre-production device so we’re not too surprised.
Gigabyte GSmart G1355 samples
The resolution chart shows that despite being a 5 MP unit, the camera didn’t produce satisfactory detail to fill the entire shot. In the second chart the GSmart had problems choosing the right ISO setting but finally got around to producing an okay result.
Posters
This device is clearly not meant as a cameraphone, which is fine considering its price tag and given features. It’s okay for the occasional shot but not if you want to leave your gidicam at home.
