Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 review: Double vision

Connectivity

The Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 is available in three different flavors - G7100 with single SIM slot and HSPA connectivity, G7102 with dual SIM support and HSPA connectivity, and G7105 model with single SIM slot and LTE connectivity.

All three models support quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and quad-band 3G. The G7105 model also offers LTE Cat.3 - that's 50 Mbps upload and 100 Mbps download speed.

The Galaxy Grand 2 uses Bluetooth 4.0 alongside Wi-Fi support which includes a/b/g/n with both 2.4GHz and 5GHz band compatibility. NFC isn't available though.

Unfortunately, there is no USB On-the-go functionality either.

The Samsung AllShare feature is integrated with the Samsung's default apps - the Video Player app, the Gallery, and the Music Player - and it allows you wirelessly stream all sorts of multimedia content to your connected stereo or HDTV.

Thanks to AllShare you can also mirror your mobile device screen to the bigger HDTV via Wi-Fi Direct and the widely supported Miracast protocol - that would even allow you to play mobile games on the biggest screen in your living room. You don't need to have a Samsung TV for that to work, but it needs to have Wi-Fi connectivity and support Miracast.

Samsung Link (previously known as AllShare Play) is another proprietary service offered by Samsung. It automatically syncs all the multimedia content on your device to Samsung servers so it's backed up and also available for instant watching/listening on your other Samsung devices (and even your Samsung SmartTV).

Two great browsers pre-installed on Grand 2

The Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 comes with two web browsers - the stock Jelly Bean edition app and Google Chrome. Both are very similar in terms of functionality.

Both browsers offer similar functionality

The browsers support both double tap and pinch zooming along with the two-finger tilt zoom. There are niceties such as multiple tabs, text reflow, find on page and so on. A neat trick is to pinch zoom out beyond the minimum - that opens up the tabs view.

Chrome has the added benefit of cross-platform sync capabilities that allow you to retrieve open tabs from desktop sessions, for instance, but doesn't have Labs support for test features.

Apps and more

While it doesn't have all of the extra apps Samsung throws into their flagships, the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 does have a few nifty applications that help it stand out from other smartphones.

S Translator can translate between two languages using either typed text or speech recognition. It supports many widely-spoken languages - English, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Korean - and can read out the resulting translation too if you don't think your accent can cut it.

S Translator can be invaluable when traveling

The S Planner fills the role of your calendar app, and automatically syncs with Google Calendar based on the Google account you use in Android.

The S Planner calendar application

The Galaxy Grand 2 gives you only the Polaris Office viewer functionality, rather than the full-fledged editor. The viewer does not show up in your app drawer, but instead only opens when you select the relevant document from the My Files app.

Polaris Office Viewer 5

The My Files app is unique to Samsung devices and offers all you need in a file explorer: multiple selection, cut, copy, paste, create folders, etc. This saves you the trouble of having to download a third-party file manager from the App Store.

The My Files app

Trip Advisor, Flipboard and Dropbox also come pre-installed on the Galaxy Grand 2.

The Galaxy Grand 2 comes with Google Maps and Navigation. The app offers much of the same functionality as its web-based counterpart, although you will need a data connection to take full advantage of the navigation features. Street view mode with digital compass enabled is an especially cool trick.

Google Maps with street view

Finally, the best part of owning a smartphone is getting new apps, and the Grand 2 comes with two marketplaces right off the bat. From recommendations to top apps, the Google Play Store features a plethora of ways you can find new apps, and installing an app usually only takes a couple of taps.

Samsung Apps features largely the same type of interface as Google Play, except here you'll find far fewer apps. The good news is Samsung uses this repository to distribute some exclusive apps to Galaxy owners, and you can find some apps that don't come preloaded on the device like the capable Polaris Office editor for documents.

The Android Play Store and Samsung Apps store