Samsung Galaxy Express review: Jelly Bean Express

Jelly Bean Express

GSMArena team, 20 February 2013.

Display

The Samsung Galaxy Express employs the same 4.5" Super AMOLED Plus screen as the AT&T version. This means you can count on excellent viewing angles, as well as sky-high contrast and reasonable brightness levels.

Samsung Galaxy Express I8730 Samsung Galaxy Express I8730
The Galaxy Express display has pretty decent image quality

The WVGA resolution is stretched a bit thin on the 4.5" display, making for a pixel density of just 207ppi, but it's by no means bad to look at. Of course, those 720p and 1080p monsters out there look way sharper, but this one is pretty crisp, too.

Sunlight legibility is nothing short of great, too. Check out how the Galaxy Express did in our dedicated sunlight legibility test.

Display test 50% brightness 100% brightness
Black, cd/m2 White, cd/m2 Contrast ratio Black, cd/m2 White, cd/m2 Contrast ratio
Samsung I8730 Galaxy Express 0 201 ∞ 0 364 ∞
HTC Butterfly 0.14 173 1200 0.45 501 1104
Sony Xperia Z - - - 0.70 492 705
Oppo Find 5 0.17 176 1123 0.51 565 1107
Sony Xperia S - - - 0.48 495 1038
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III 0 174 ∞ 0 330 ∞
HTC One X 0.15 200 1375 0.39 550 1410
Nokia Lumia 920 - - - 0.48 513 1065
Nexus 4 0.22 314 1447 0.45 608 1341
LG Optimus G 0.14 197 1445 0.33 417 1438
Apple iPhone 5 0.13 200 1490 0.48 640 1320

Contrast Ratio

You can find more information on our display test here.

Sunlight contrast ratio

  • Nokia 808 PureView
    4.698
  • Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III
    3.419
  • Samsung Omnia W
    3.301
  • Samsung Galaxy S
    3.155
  • Nokia N9
    3.069
  • Samsung Galaxy Note
    2.970
  • HTC One S
    2.901
  • Samsung Galaxy Express
    2.861
  • Samsung Galaxy S II
    2.832
  • Samsung Galaxy S II Plus
    2.801
  • Huawei Ascend P1
    2.655
  • Nokia Lumia 900
    2.562
  • Sony Xperia Z
    2.462
  • Samsung Galaxy S III mini
    2.422
  • Motorola RAZR i
    2.366
  • Apple iPhone 4S
    2.269
  • HTC One X
    2.158
  • Nokia N8
    2.144
  • Oppo Find 5
    2.088
  • BlackBerry Z10
    2.051
  • Apple iPhone 4
    2.016
  • Sony Ericsson Xperia ray
    1.955
  • Samsung Galaxy Camera
    1.938
  • HTC Butterfly
    1.873
  • Sony Xperia V
    1.792
  • Sony Xperia U
    1.758
  • LG Optimus 4X HD
    1.691
  • HTC One V
    1.685
  • LG Optimus Vu
    1.680
  • HTC Desire V
    1.646
  • LG Optimus 3D
    1.542
  • Nokia Asha 302
    1.537
  • Nokia Lumia 610
    1.432
  • Gigabyte GSmart G1355
    1.361
  • HTC Desire C
    1.300
  • LG Optimus L7
    1.269
  • LG Optimus L9
    1.227
  • Meizu MX
    1.221
  • Sony Xperia E dual
    1.203
  • Samsung Galaxy Pocket
    1.180
  • Sony Xperia tipo
    1.166
  • Samsung Galaxy mini 2
    1.114

Handling

Overall, the Samsung I8730 Galaxy Express is a phone of commendable ergonomics. Slim and lightweight, it's pretty easy to handle and slips comfortably into pockets. The grip is somewhat compromised due to the slightly larger screen, but shouldn't be much of a problem for the average (male?) user.

Samsung Galaxy Express I8730 Samsung Galaxy Express I8730
Despite the larger screen, the Galaxy Express handles nicely

Reader comments

  • Anonymous
  • 03 Mar 2015
  • THj

I need to know if I can connect my express to my canon printer. Please advise.

  • AnonD-204104
  • 04 Jan 2014
  • i2c

Actually, the Samsung Galaxy Grand has no LTE, no NFC, a weaker resolution and less battery efficiency in comparison to the Samsung Galaxy Express. However, it has a slightly better camera (8mp instead 5mp) and a slightly larger screen (5' instead of...

  • mae
  • 24 Oct 2013
  • v0q

hi, any one here from US? do you know if i can use LTE network of t mobile in this mobile phone? thanks.. coz i heard at & t carried this phone with lte. how about t mobiles network?