A high-end device with great features and increased affordability

Sep 3, 2011 09:00 GMT  ·  By

Samsung's Galaxy S devices already made a name for themselves as being top-of-the-line handsets, but other smartphones from the company can still deliver performance and capabilities that users are longing for, and the Galaxy R is one of these devices. The mobile phone was unveiled only a few weeks ago, and Samsung brought it to the IFA 2011 show in Berlin, where Softpedia's editors had the chance to play with it for a few minutes.

You can have a closer look at the mobile phone in the live photos that we took of it at the conference, and, if you would like to learn more on it, you should keep on reading.

Boasting a large 4.2-inch touchscreen display that can deliver a 480 x 800 pixels resolution and a dual-core 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 application processor, the Galaxy R is the closest a Samsung phone can get to the Galaxy S II flagship model.

Samsung already announced that the R series of Galaxy phones will feature capabilities similar with those in Galaxy S devices, but with a few downsides and with lower price tags, and the first Galaxy R smartphone is a living proof of that.

Featuring model number I9103 (the Galaxy S II is model I9100), the Galaxy R packs a 5-megapixel photo snapper on the back, with HD video recording capabilities and complemented by a front-facing camera for video calling.

The mobile phone also sports 8 GB of internal memory, along with 1GB of RAM to go along with the dual-core CPU, and a microSD memory card slot with support for up to 32GB of additional storage space.

Moreover, the handset's specs list includes Stereo FM radio with RDS, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0 connectivity, Wi-Fi hotspot and DLNA capabilities, and built-in GPS receiver.

The mobile phone also includes a Li-Ion 1650 mAh battery that can deliver up to 9 hours of talk time or up to 620 hours of standby time. It measures 125 x 66 x 9.5 mm and weighs in at 135 grams.

The Samsung Galaxy R runs under Google's Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system and features the TouchWiz UI from Samsung on top of it, along with support for various applications, games and services that usually go along with the Android platform.

Note: Fellow editors Cosmin Vasile and Sorin Nita are on the floor at the 2011 IFA Show and are keeping us posted with pictures and live reports on the latest product previews and launches.

Photo Gallery (11 Images)

Samsung Galaxy R
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