Hands On with the Samsung Admire 2 and Discover for Cricket
May 22, 2013, 12:38 PM by Rich Brome @richbrome
Cricket today showed a sneak peek of two Samsung phones coming this summer. The Admire 2 sports a 4-inch screen and 4G LTE, while the Galaxy Discover is more basic with its 3.5-inch screen and stock Android interface. We checked them out. Read on for our first impressions.
source: Cricket Communications
Admire 2
The Galaxy S III has been a hot seller on Cricket, exceeding all forecasts, as they tell it. It's also boosted Samsung's brand quite a bit. But Cricket is a prepaid carrier, and not everyone can afford a $600 phone. With that in mind, the Admire 2 is an attempt to bring some of that Samsung mojo - and 4G LTE - down to a more reasonable price point.
(If the Admire 2 looks familiar, that's because it's also known as the Axiom for U.S. Cellular; they're the same phone.)
The Admire 2 indeed has a high-quality feel to it. It's all plastic and you'll know it to hold it. But certain details like the physical home button have a premium feel to them, and the overall build quality seems excellent for this price range.
The side keys work well. The 4-inch display is solidly mid-range. It's leaps and bounds better than the one in the Discover, but certainly no match for the displays now shipping in high-end phones. The memory card slot has a hatch on the side for easy access.
The Admire 2 runs Android 4.1 with Samsung's TouchWiz interface. TouchWiz brings welcome features like lock screen shortcuts, notification shade quick settings controls, and Samsung's excellent camera interface.
Look for the Admire 2 on Cricket this summer, or U.S. Cellular is currently offering it as the Axiom.
Galaxy Discover
The Galaxy Discover is a very basic Android phone. With only a 3-megapixel camera and no 4G, the selling points here are price and its small size (the screen measures just 3.5 inches.) The only extras are the memory card slot, and some will be delighted to find stock Android 4.0 powering this baby.
The Discover has the style and build quality you'd expect from Samsung. It's plastic, but it feels solid and well put-together. The keys work well. The design is very curvy and comfortable.
The display and small and dim. If display quality is important to you at all, skip this one.
The memory card slot is tucked away on the side, accessible after removing the battery cover.
Samsung Galaxy Discover Interface
The basic Android 4.0 interface works as you'd expect. Android 4.0 works well, but some might miss TouchWiz features like lock screen shortcuts, notification shade shortcuts, and the extra camera features of higher-end Samsung phones.
On a phone this basic, there's not much else to say. Look for it this summer on Cricket, or Net10 sells this one, as well (it's GSM instead of CDMA, but otherwise similar.)
About the author, Rich Brome:Editor in Chief Rich became fascinated with cell phones in 1999, creating mobile web sites for phones with tiny black-and-white displays and obsessing over new phone models. Realizing a need for better info about phones, he started Phone Scoop in 2001, and has been helming the site ever since. Rich has spent two decades researching and covering every detail of the phone industry, traveling the world to tour factories, interview CEOs, and get every last spec and photo Phone Scoop readers have come to expect. As an industry veteran, Rich is a respected voice on phone technology of the past, present, and future.
Review: Samsung Galaxy Admire 2 for Cricket
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Samsung Axiom Arrives at U.S. Cellular
Samsung Refreshes Galaxy S Series with S Pen, New Cameras
Samsung Refines its Foldable Phones
Samsung Galaxy Axiom / Admire 2
Samsung Galaxy Discover (CDMA) / Centura
Comments
Plasticphobia
I've gotta ask you a question Rich. Why is there such a hatred for polycarbonate phones all of a sudden? It is almost as if no one has ever used or owned plastic products before. Before Steve Jobs, None of this nonsense would've been sheeple marketed.
I would have expected this site to be more level headed and less vocal about Aluminum Vs Polycarbonate. More in tune in understanding that phones have been made this way for years with no issues whatsoever and for a good reason. Have you reporters really had that much problems with polycarbonate phones? In the 27 years I've owned cell phones, I never once had a complaint.
I fear the thought tha...
(continues)
