Samsung Galaxy
Portal Review
Phone rating: 
In a nutshell: The Samsung Galaxy Portal is an Android phone,
but it uses last year's technology. It's a good enough phone, and
not too expensive, but being average isn't good enough these days
when there are some truly amazing alternatives available.
Review:
April 2010.
Samsung have come late to the Android party, and
it looks like they brought a cheap bottle of wine from Tesco with
them, hoping nobody would notice the difference.
The Galaxy Portal looks like a slightly overweight
version of the Samsung Jet, and it
shares the same superfast 800MHz processor. We'd say that it's oversized
and overweight compared to rival phones, especially since the screen
size is quite average, at 3.2 inches diagonally. We also question
the need for quite so many buttons on the front, although they work
well enough and the D-pad gives plenty of control when moving around.
The phone is plastic but feels solid enough.
Although the screen is of average size and with
a resolution of 320 x 480 pixels, which is nothing special compared
to rival smartphones, it's a capacitive touchscreen with a good
response. The phone is easy enough to use, but nothing special.
Although this is an Android phone, it's running
Android 1.5, which is frankly a dinosaur, and Samsung haven't made
the effort to wrap it in any kind of user-friendly UI, like HTC
have done with HTC Sense in the HTC Desire
for instance, or Sony Ericsson with their Timescape and Mediascape
technology in the Sony Ericsson
Xperia X10. Nevertheless, you do get access to plenty of apps
from the Android Market, as well as easy access to email, youtube,
and other internet-based applications. The web browser is particularly
good. You can of course customise the user interface by downloading
all the applications you want and fiddling with your home pages
(of which there are three). And, if Samsung make Android 2.1 available
for the Galaxy portal, even more options will become possible.
The technology inside is nothing special, with
a mediocre 3 megapixel camera, although perhaps the most outstanding
feature of the Galaxy Portal is its huge battery, which will power
the phone for days without the need for charging.
The big feature (gimmick?) that Samsung are pushing
is its visual search engine which will show you "loads of exciting
places, from new bars and clubs to cash machines and taxis"
- yawn. That's a standard feature on all Android phones, if you
really want it.
The Galaxy Portal is pretty well connected, with
3G and Wi-Fi for fast data access, although it isn't the fastest
flavour of 3G, being limited to 3.6Mbps download. The memory is
200MB, which falls below what's on offer from other Android phones
such as the HTC Desire or HTC
Legend. You can of course add a microSD memory card for extra
data storage.
To be fair, the Galaxy Portal isn't a bad phone.
It's got a fast processor, a big battery, and a decent array of
tech stuff. It just feels like last year's product, not something
released in 2010. If you want Android, there are far better choices
available - from the HTC Desire to
the Sony Ericsson Xperia
X10 or even the Googlephone itself, the Google
Nexus One. The new Samsung Galaxy
S looks set to be the super Android phone that the Galaxy portal
never was.
Features
of the Samsung Galaxy Portal include:
- Android operating system
- 3 megapixel camera with autofocus
- Video camera (352 x 288 resolution)
- Display: capacitative touchscreen TFT, 320 x
480 pixels, (3.2 inches)
- GPS receiver
- Music Player (MP3/AMR/AAC/AAC+/e-AAC+ formats)
- Polyphonic ringtones / MP3 ringtones
- Messaging: SMS, MMS, Google Talk, email
- Memory: 200 MB plus microSD memory card
- Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.1, USB 2.0, Wi-Fi,
3.5mm audio jack
- Internet: Chrome-Lite web browser, WAP 2.0,
GPRS, EDGE, 3G, HSDPA 3.6Mbps
- Quadband (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) plus 3G (UMTS
1900 / 2100)
- Offline mode
- Size: 115 x 57 x 13.2 mm
- Weight: 124g
- Talktime: 410 - 710 minutes
- Battery standby: 580 - 650 hours
Samsung Galaxy Portal Consumer Reviews
Love your mobile? Hate it? Please share your experiences to help other
people choose the phone that's best for them. Please do not review this
phone if you have not used it. This is a review site, not a forum, so
please don't just ask questions. Please do not use swear words or offensive
language, and please, no advertising!
Average rating from 32 reviews: 
Reviewed by zak macdoody from england
on 2nd Jan 2012
i don't know what all the moaning is about!?. i've had this phone
for nearly two years now, i upgraded it from 1.5 to 2.1. it never
crashes and it never did, much faster than most phones in its price
range like the sony x8 as it has the 800mghz processor instead of
the 600.it's my phone and my internet modem and i never have any
trouble with it.i tried many touch screen phones and this seems
to be most responsive. firmware upgrade to 2.2 would be nice
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Daniel from UK on
8th Oct 2011
If I could put a minus rating on this phone I would, It is by a
long way the worse phone I have ever used. I could write all day
about how bad it is, but I will say just do not buy it!
Rating:  Reply
Reviewed by Yvonne Macdonald from United
Kingdom on 22nd Aug 2011
I have had a samsung portal in March on contract and it isn;t like
other samsungs - its not user friendly and I had a lot of trouble
copying my sim card contacts onto this phone I wish I hadn;t had
it to be honest
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Steven from England on
22nd Aug 2011
The absolute WORST phone I have ever owned! Sluggish, simple procedures
like reading a text takes tens of seconds to open, sometimes up
to a minute. Crashes frequently and will die even when the battery
is charged! Awful awful awful!
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by richard from england on
5th Jul 2011
does this phone even have an alarm because i dont think it is a
good alarm
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by CaribbeanQT from Canada
on 30th Jun 2011
Worst phone I have ever had!! I would never advise anyone to buy
this phone. Texting on it is crappy, and it goes off every 30 seconds
in the middle of a call. The goes off overnight (even when your
battery is 57% charged). I have only had it for 2 days now and I
am frustrated. I could just smash it against the wall. Save yourself
the headache, and buy something better.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Galaxy Chortle from UK on
5th Jun 2011
Had this phone for about 9 months and it is the bane of my life.
Where shall I start; simple functions such as the dial pad and phonebook
crash regularly, messages/phonebook/camera take literally 30 seconds
to load up (half a minute is an outrageously long time to wait just
to find your friend's name when you want to ring them or read a
text), many apps are too slow to work on a phone which is supposed
to have a superior processor in terms of speed, the touch screen
is a liability and often rings someone completely different to the
name I pressed and sometimes won't even let me unlock the phone
because the slider gets confused! If you have any sort of temper
I doubt this phone will last you a week.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Oscar Mild from UK on
6th May 2011
Hate it. Had it year & awaiting delivery replacement. I hope its
an improvement. This has been one of the worst phones I have ever
possessed. Have really wanted to smash it on several occasions.
Its sluggish beyond belief, opening a newly received sms takes up
to 1 minute. Not only is the touch screen totally non-responsive
(unless hands & screen are squeaky clean)but the keys are too small.
Then theres the ridiculous number of buttons. (Lack of faith in
touch screen?) You can't hold it without pressing something annoying.
No wonder Apple a soaring ahead in this market.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by theron Pearman from UK on
4th Apr 2011
rubbish. try to connect it to a computer using a usb cable... doesn't
work. standard battery... rubbish using google navigation quickly
drains the battery... try typing on it... poor show samsung a real
turkey
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by carlos from china on
7th Mar 2011
excuse my english if i make mistake, i not advanced yet, but this
mobile telephone has been a very wrong decision, i have other mobile
smartphone of which works much better. I work in phone shop where
i live and compare phones for a hobby, the galaxy europa is much
better choice, much more advanced with crisper display, portal phone
old and uses disappointing camera, phone is very average and does
not match up to other mobile telephones on market, samsung jet or
samsung europa are recommended, this phone one step behind technology.
Overall phone is a pointless buy, offers average, dated features
that dont keep buyer happy, offers no exciting aspect so not recomended.
I give 2 1/2 stars not 3.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Ruth from UK on 10th
Feb 2011
I'm really disappointed with this phone. I think I really wanted
an iphone and this isn't a good substitute. I find texting very
troublesome and now find myself accused of poor spelling. I also
call people by mistake by merely dusting my fingers on the screen
and at other times I can keep touching the screen and getting no
response. The variable sensitivity is probably my biggest complaint
along with the signal drop out. I miss calls frequently and have
to position myself carefully to keep a call active..... and no I
don't live deep in the country but it could be due to the network
I'm on. I have experienced "freezing" and have to restore the phone
by switching it off. I wish I hadn't bought this phone and I'm counting
down the months for my contract to end.
Rating:  Reply
Reviewed by independent reviews from
england, north east on 6th Feb 2011
although the reviewer of this mobile phone really put it down, this
is one of the better android phones I've used, its older technology
yes but ot works amazingly well, a friend of mine has an HTC (not
naming which one) and its junk, the version of android on his 2.1
and ita very buggy, I haven't had a single error or crash or issue
in general, its an amazing phone for the price (I'm on 3 and get
a hell of a lot of minutes and internet) all in all its an amazing
phone on a budget and may I add I own this phone and in using it
right now to write this review, this is a good all rounder cheap.
compact android phone bursting with features and the app market
makes possibilities endless.
Rating:  Reply
Reviewed by Pete from uk on 14th
Jan 2011
No complaints with this phone at all. I've hd it 5 months now and
it's not bored me yet.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by liam from isle of man on
18th Dec 2010
MY PORTAL WAS BOUGHT WITH 2.1 OS ON IT! AND PLENTY MORE HAVE IT
TOO!GOOD. PHONE WANTING 2.2 UPDATE.GO TO (CYANOGEN) SITE THEY WILL
GET THE 2.2 UPDATE! SOON,THIS PHONE IS AS GOOD AS ANY OTHER 2.1
ANDROID PHONE!
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by russ from uk on 4th
Nov 2010
got my phone in may 2010 on the three network at first it worked
perfectly and I was very impressed. But then things started going
wrong firstly it kept dropping it's signal so i couldn't make or
receive calls and i would need to turn the handset off and then
on again to regain a signal. then it went through a stage of turning
itself off for no reason and it didn't care if I was in a call or
not, sent it in for repair worked a few more weeks then started
all over again just phoned three and now I am swapping it for the
HTC Wildfire hope thats better
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by dave from uk on 20th
Sep 2010
nice phone,no droped calls ,everything works,good price i get mine
for £10 PER MONTH 300 text+300 mins and free internet access.The
other phones on the market are alot of money to pay for things you
proberly dont need ,and i only need to charge every few days.recomended!
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by bev from uk on 22nd
Aug 2010
i've only had this a week and i'm still getting used to it. apart
from a couple of things i really like this phone. does anyone know
how to stop incoming texts appearing at the top of the screen? the
only way i can see round it is if you un-tick the notification setting
box, but then you dont know that you've got a text at all!! i leave
my phone on my desk at work and i dont like the way that anyone
standing near the phone can read my texts before i do:(
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by paddy from england on
16th Aug 2010
I bought my phone from t mobile and have had no issues whatsoever.
It doesn't have android 2.1, but their are many apps which enhance
your user experience making it very similar (if not better) than
android 2.1. A good example of this is pandahome, giving you up
to 11 homescreens and giving you many home-editing options. Also
l, I have found the internet capabilties of this phone fantastic
l, as it us incredibly fast. 5 stars
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Rosie from UK on
16th Aug 2010
I've found that the alarm is extremely quiet on this. It didn't
wake me up! It's on full in the alarm menu, is there any way of
getting it louder?
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Paul from UK on 22nd
Jul 2010
Don't buy from T-Mobile! It comes with Android 1.5 and a software
CD that will screw up your PC. The software isn't Windows 7 compatible,
but it doesn't work so that's only half the problem. The manual
is useless and T-Mobile support no better, so it's really hard to
make the phone useful. Samsung have an upgrade to Amdroid 2.1 which
you get if you buy the phone from 3. For those of us who previously
ad phones that sync with a PC a guide to how to do all that stuff
would be really useful.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Kim from UK on 4th
Jul 2010
This phone is not difficult to use, it is not complicated. This
is my first smartphone so i'm still learning about it, but it's
simple if you have patience. i've only had this phone since yesterday
and i love it, bluetooth is works fine, internet is good, absolutely
loving it! Martyn, if you go into messaging, press the menu button
(the one on the left) then select settings, go down to where is
says about notifications, and tick the box where it says vibrate
when notifiedm then it'll vibrate when you get a text. To set music
as a ringtone just go into your files, find the song you want, press
the menu button, then set as voice ringtone. don't know how to change
the message tone yet, haven't tried as i don't mind the current
tone. Going to rate is as a 4, only because theres still lots for
me to figure out on it! Hope i helped x
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Greg from UK on 29th
Jun 2010
This month I renewed my contract and upgraded to this phone, I received
the latest version with the 2.1 Android OS (Eclair)
already built in. This puts the Galaxy Portal right back in the pack
of top smart phones, while not the best it's a good contender at an
affordable price. I pay just £20 a month for unlimited internet, 5000
texts and 500 minutes. The phone itself takes awhile to get used to
but working it all out can be half the fun. All in all it has alot to
offer without costing the earth and so far I'm more than happy.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Luke from UK on 18th
Jun 2010
I've had this phone for 3 weeks now and I couldn't be happier. Only
pay 20 pounds a month on contract - so this phone is a steal! Got an
8gb card on ebay for a tenner and also have spotify too. No - it is
not the best android phone on the market, but it never said it was.
The HTC Wildfire might be worth waiting
for if you want something cheap and cheerful - but the i5700 Portal
has a faster processor - so I'm stick with the Samsung. Just really
hope Samsung do the 2.2 Android Update for this phone. Conclusion -
yeah, the HTC Desire is better - but it
costs more.....so if you want cheap, fun and loads of gadgets, get one!
hehe
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by diane from south wales on
14th Jun 2010
absolute rubbish phone sold it on two weeks after getting it as
an upgrade went back to old nokia dont bother with this its difficult
to use hard to get it to bond with pc quite frankly im sorry i ever
had it
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Martyn from United Kingdom
on 6th Jun 2010
Got the phone few days ago, so far I'm pretty happy with it. It
is easy to use. I can't figure out how to set up vibrate alert for
when receive text message. I have put the phone in silent but it
not vibrate. I know the vibrate is working as it vibrate when I
press button while texting. Anyone know how, please explain to me!
Also does the alarm work if you turn the phone off? Mine seems don't.
I normally use mobile phone as alarm to get me up for work! Rather
not to leave the phone on during night in case someone might text
me (but at the moment no vibrate when someone text me!) Otherwise
the phone is great, only £17 per month for unlimited text, unlimited
internet, 100 mins call. Free MSN and Skype.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by aaron from uk on
29th May 2010
i like the phone but i dont know how to set a mp3 file as a message
ringtone only as a voice call ringing ton
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by SamSingh from UK on
24th May 2010
I got this phone last week, yes its good phone. A bit annoyed that
you get set your own tunes as message tones also coul not use BBC
iplayer as it requires android 2.2 software apart from that the
phone is ok compared to the rubbish nokia 6500 slide I got stuck
with.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Barry from London on
12th May 2010
Hi Mandy if you down load mabilo app you can download music then
you can set as ring tone you do have to set up a google mail account
on the phone hope this helps.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by jo from uk on 10th
May 2010
iv had my portal for a few days and love the applications on it
and the grate touch screen, the down sides iv found apart from not
haveing a flash is that the bluetooth is rubbish!!! i carnt send
or recive files and carnt set an mp3 song as a ringtone, saying
that, the apps age good and there are many to choose from, but the
few things it lacks are a real let down
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Ciaran from UK on
3rd May 2010
I love this phone!!! I just got it the other day and I don't understand
why people think it's so mediocre. But I guess I think it's the
height of modern technology because I've never had an Android Phone
before... But I do know that you can update the system to Android
2.1 and I'm going to do it as soon as I can. I also think the phone
looks very nice and I don't really mind the buttons at the bottom
and I laughed when my friend tried to navigate it using just the
D-Pad and the OK button and the look of shock on their face when
I took it from them and began doing a text on the virtual QWERTY
Key Pad. I think this phone is amazing and I recommend to anyone
who wants an affordable smart-phone which has good online features
and a variety of different things to do (and don't worry, you can
make phone calls and text :P) Good Job SAMSUNG!!!
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Cryptic from UK on
2nd May 2010
Just don't buy this phone. I am now stuck in a 2 year contract with
this phone and it does not do what I wanted. Bluetooth is a big
feature on how I use my phone but you cannot use file exchange with
this phone as it is not supported until android 2.0. This apparently
is on its way but you can get some phones that already have it.
Had I known this I would have gone for a more up to date phone.
Also need at least 1.6 to get the google sat nav and this phone
is only 1.5. Very disappointing and when I emailed Samsung about
why they advertise that it is bluetooth when you can't actually
use it they fobbed me off and did not really answer me.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Mandy from England on
1st May 2010
I've just got this phone today and am finding it a little confusing
to work out - but getting there! I wondered if anyone could help
with a query though - is there any way to set a voice recording,
or ringtone, as the text message alert? The Samsung Tocco allows
this, but I can't find a way to do it on the Galaxy Portal - can
anyone help?
Rating: Reply
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