Samsung's projector phone is quite
the novel idea.
We love to see creative and unusual ideas
come to life, even if they serve little purpose aside from just surprising us
for a few moments. The Samsung GALAXY Beam is one such product, and after
seeing a prototype of it in action several months back at the Samsung SEA
Forum, the Korean electronics giant has finally arrived this side of the world.
Samsung's
projector phone is quite the novel idea.
The Beam looks like a typical smartphone at
a glance, but look carefully and you'll begin to realise several things. The
SIM and MicroSD card slots that are positioned at the sides of the phone as the
rear cover can't be removed. The yellow strip circling the otherwise black
coloured phone gives it an element of showiness, making it quite noticeable
from a distance. What sets this phone apart from the others, however is the
small projector that sits on top of the phone.
Powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor, the
Beam functions relatively well, with minimal lag issues. It may not have the
GALAXY S Ill's combo of speed and stability, but it performs admirably and
TouchWIZ Ul works well here. Sadly, it ships in Android 2.3 out of the box. You
can upgrade it to Android 4.0 in time.
When we saw the Beam as a prototype in
Bangkok a few months back, the projector idea was very novel, but has a rather
iffy implementation.
The complete product however, is nothing
like that. The 15 lumens DLP works really well, and the distance factor isn't
nearly as bad as the prototype. Images projected are sufficiently sharp and a
good many details are maintained. It works brightly in dark conditions, but
washes out under bright lights.
Another nifty feature the Beam has is that
the 5-megapixels camera and the projector can also be used in tandem to work as
an overhead projector (OHP). It's an interesting yet quirky idea,but without a
stand you will have to hold the phone while the camera hovers over the object
that you're projecting.
The
15 lumens projector is a novel and very fun idea. It also projects pretty well.
The
5-megapixels camera can be used in tandem with the projector to turn it into an
OHP.
Conclude
The projector on the Samsung Galaxy Beam
won't be making an appearance in future GALAXY S variants, to be sure, but we
have had a lot of fun playing with this particular feature, and it certainly is
nifty especially for streaming YouTube videos from the phone.
|
Info
Price: $525
Website: www.samsung.com
Pros
Novel idea with projector, Good phone performance
Cons
Runs Android, Gingerbread out of the box
Specifications
·
Operating System: Android
3.0 Gingerbread
·
Processor: 1GHz
dual-core processor
·
Frequency: HSDPA
2100/1900, EDGE, GPRS, GSM 850/900/1800/1900
·
Screen: 4.0-inch
display (800 x 480)
·
Others: 5-megapixels
camera
·
Connectivity: Bluetooth,
USB2.0, Wi-Fi, 3.5mm
·
Dimensions: 124 x 64.2
x 12.5mm
·
Weight: 145.3g
Ratings
·
Performance: 4/5
·
Features: 4/5
·
Design: 4/5
·
Value: 4/5
|
