Samsung Galaxy Prevail review

Uniting speed, sophistication, and value, the Samsung Galaxy Prevail is Boost Mobile's best smartphone. A blend between a Samsung Galaxy S superphone and the mid-range HTC Droid Eris, the Prevail is a superb handset for $179.99. Overall, the device is a wonderfuly functional device for someone on a budget.

Upon first opening the Prevail's packaging, we see the phone on top, and below we have a USB/charger cable, warranty statement, as well as an instruction manual. Besides these few things, however,  Boost kept accessories to a bare minimum. Not really a big deal though considering this is a smartphone for the budget-minded.

While the hardware specs aren't mind-blowing, the Prevail definitely feels solid, especiallly for a mid-range handset. The build quality is comparable to that of the HTC Aria, a very well built mid-range AT&T handset. The dimensions of the phone measure 113x57x12 mm, with plastic siding and a soft rubber back for protection.

While the phone feels great and definitely looks nice, the 320x480 pixel display is a real issue and appeared quite washed out at times. Viewing webpages and updating Facebook and Twitter were fine, but when viewing photos, images appeared very grainy to the point that it was difficult to see things. It's also worth mentioning that viewing angles on the 3.2-inch screen were less than stellar.

Inside the Prevail you'll find an 800MHz processor, 384MB of RAM, and 124MB of internal storage. While this a very small amount of internal storage by most standards, the device does ship with Android 2.2, so users can also store applications on the phone's microSD card. Besides the internal storage issue, the device felt snappy, and the screen was very responsive.

At only 2-megapixels, the Prevail's camera and video recording capabilities are decent at times, but mostly bad. Don't even think about taking a photograph of a moving object, because all you will get is a blurry image. Stationary objects work well though, provided there is good lighting. For casual photographers, the camera on the Prevail should do just fine though.

Boost loaded up the Galaxy Prevail with a slightly modified stock version of Android 2.2.1. Considering stock Android is a commodity at this point, it nice to see a carrier getting behind a stock version of Google's popular software.

Overall, Froyo performs admirably and quite reliably on the Prevail, but can be a little bit laggy at times. It does drag the system down, but only to a point. Most of the time it was very reliable and a pleasure to use.

That said, I would have liked to have seen Boost update the Prevail so users wouldn't be affected by the SMS bug which afflicted so many Android users out there. Perhaps we will see an update soon.

In addition to stock Froyo, Boost and Samsung placed several pre-loaded apps onto the Prevail. The device comes with Twidroyd, not Twitter's native Android app. Twidroyd offers more options to power users, including the ability to select a different visual theme, though it's lacking Twitter for Android's drag-to-refresh feature.

Other bundled apps include Poynt and Hookt, which seemed completely pointless and useless. Interestingly, Samsung omitted the native Facebook application.

As for battery life, the Prevail features a 1500 mAh battery that lasts quite long. The device is said to last for 6.50 hours of talk time and 216 hours of standby time, which is pretty good. Overall, though, I found battery life to be really good.

From a full charge, the Prevail easily made it through almost two days with email and social networks actively syncing. For an Android smartphone, the battery life on the Prevail was much better than average. Excellent, in fact.

Wrap-Up
The combination of Android 2.2, an 800MHz processor, and 384MB of RAM gives Boost Mobile's Samsung Galaxy Prevail both speed and power.

Despite being a mid-range handset, I think it goes without saying that the Galaxy Prevail is definitely Boost's new flagship device. With power, speed, good looks, and a good feel, the Prevail will no doubt turn heads.

Landing at a $179.99 price tag and a $50 monthly unlimited data plan, the Prevail is an extremely attractive buy for many budget-minded consumers out there. Besides the display and camera issues, there is very little downside to this handset and it is more than worth its value.

While usually I am quite jaded when it comes to Android phones, I can without a doubt recommend this device to both friends and family. Bravo Boost!