Samsung Galaxy Mini 2 v Galaxy Y: You Know... For Kids!

Samsung Galaxy Y S5360 contract deals

Is your child badgering you to get them a smart phone, but you don't want to spend too much?  Then the Samsung Galaxy Mini 2 or Samsung Galaxy Y S5360 might be just the phone you're looking for. They're both small (good for tiny fingers), with a solid design should stand up to a bit of rough and tumble. While neither are all that powerful, their simplicity is appealing, making them good entry-level smart phones. There are also some very good phone deals available for these budget Androids. But which one is better?

Samsung Galaxy Mini 2 v Samsung Galaxy Y

If you want to go for a phone which has been designed specifically with children in mind then the Galaxy Y is the one to go for. The “Y” literally stands for “Young”. It has a tiny screen, just 3 inches at the diagonal, and will fit very nicely in to smaller pockets (it's about the height and length of a bank card, although much bulkier of course). The truth is though that the Samsung Galaxy Mini 2 meets these standards as well. Its screen is a little larger, at 3.27 inches and it has a better resolution of 320 x 480 pixels. The Galaxy Y only has a dismal 240 x 320 pixels, meaning that graphics and text are fuzzy.

The good thing about the small screens with low resolutions, however, is that they make the battery last longer. With light use, the Galaxy Y could last a few days without a recharge, which is practically unheard of with a smart phone. The Mini 2 is also pretty good on its battery.

Another reason for the longer battery life than usual is the smaller processor. In this case the Galaxy Y actually has the slightly larger processor, at 832MHz. The Mini 2 is only just behind at 800MHz though, and it is in good company as a couple of other excellent budget Androids, the Orange San Francisco II and T-Mobile Vivacity, also have that sized chip. In fact when it comes to budget Androids, the only one that really beats it is the Huawei Ascend G300 with a 1GHz processor.

Samsung Galaxy Mini 2 deals

Of course you are always going to have to make compromises when it comes to budget smart phones, and the screen of the Galaxy Y has certainly been sacrificed to make it as cheap as possible. Not only is it low-res but there is often a noticeable lag when swiping your finger across homescreens. Plus if you give anything but the lightest of touches, the screen will flex. Not a good sign. The buttons on the phone are not always the most responsive either.

While the Galaxy Mini 2 is a bit more expensive then, you do get a better screen as well as more internal storage (4GB to the Galaxy Y's 160MB) although in both cases these can be expanded with a microSD card, which usually come with the phone.

They both run Android Gingerbread, which is not the latest but does make just about every app at Google Play usable. Neither phone has a great camera, the Galaxy Y's 2 megapixel device producing quality a bit above what you would expect, but the Mini 2's 3MP camera does beat it.

All in all, there really isn't a huge difference between the phones. The Mini 2 is probably a bit better than the Galaxy Y on specs, but then on the other hand it's also a bit more expensive and doesn't have as good battery life. So it is really very much a judgement call. To compare the two in more detail though you can find the full specifications of the Mini 2 and the Galaxy Y on the Samsung website.

Google Play

Both phones serve as a very good stepping stone from a feature phone to a smart phone. They're basic and simple, and not overly powerful, but that's okay. They make for a nice transition if you're not accustomed to smart phones, especially for younger users.

So what's the biggest benefit of a smart phone over a regular feature phone? Well there are a few but for most people the main one is the amount of downloadable apps that there are available. For Android users these come at the Android Marketplace, now called Google Play. There are plenty of free apps available to download, and cover everything from iconic games such as Angry Birds to applications that let you point your phone at the night sky and will identify the constellations visible to you. There are social networking apps, ebook readers, apps for news and sports and just about anything else you can think of.

You can also browse the web of course and watch videos, listen to music and edit documents. The smart phone constitutes a revolution in phone design, so that we will never again think of them as simply allowing us to connect to people through voice and test. A phone can now be a computer that you can carry around in your pocket, and it's well worth getting involved in this relatively recent advance.

If you're already on the smart-phone ladder, however, then the San Francisco II, Vivacity or Ascend G300 are probably going to be more appealing budget Androids. If you're new to smart phones though, especially if you're young, then it's definitely worth checking out the Samsung Galaxy Mini 2 monthly contract deals and Samsung Galaxy Y S5360 deals available online.  You can also check out Samsung Galaxy Y S5360 white deals and Samsung Galaxy Y S5360 pink contract deals.