Samsung mobile phones have been familiar to domestic customers for a long time. The lineup includes both the simplest devices and those equipped with innovative technologies. In the framework of this article, a device released 5 years ago will be presented. Although he did not become a sales leader, he deserves the attention of readers. What kind of mobile phone will it be? This is a push-button candy bar - Samsung GT-E2232 Duos. The characteristics of the device at the time of release were impressive. At retail outlets they asked for about 2,000 rubles. What features did the buyer receive for that kind of money?
Positioning
For 2011, this phone occupied one of the first positions in the budget segment. However, this did not last long. "Why?" - you ask. The reason is pretty commonplace. The manufacturer was in no hurry to reduce the cost, so over time, the Samsung GT-E2232 Duos phone gradually gave way to other, more functional devices. The situation was not even saved by the support of two SIM cards, a standard headphone jack and other set of options.
The model is positioned as a phone for calls. There is no point in demanding more from him. Of course, the manufacturer installed a camera, but its resolution does not allow you to take high-quality photos. For comparison, you can consider a good model Fly DS150. According to the characteristics, it practically does not differ from the Samsung phone, but it costs a quarter cheaper.
According to most buyers and experts, the reason for the release of the GT-E2232 was a simple extension of the lineup, as they say, for the range.
Design
The Samsung GT-E2232 Duos mobile phone is a typical device with a keypad. Design maker chose standard. There are no special remarkable elements on the case. The only thing you can pay attention to is the back panel. For the model, the developers chose a corrugated surface. This is an indisputable advantage, since the device, in comparison with previous models, has become more practical. Such a coating perfectly hides scuffs, the top layer is practically not erased, as, for example, for those that are covered with silver paint. But the manufacturer minimized the range of color solutions by releasing only one option - black. Of course, this affected its versatility. Not every woman will give preference to such a strict instance.
The developers decided to stop on plastic, choosing the material for the Samsung GT-E2232 Duos case. The total weight of the device turned out to be 79 g. Thickness, compared to modern smartphones, is staggering - almost 15 mm. Now, of course, it is difficult to imagine how such a device can be held in hand. However, surprisingly, it is very convenient to use. Due to the non-smooth surface of the back cover, the phone does not slip at all. You can control it with the fingers of one hand.
Half of the front panel is occupied by the keyboard unit. It consists of soft keys and numeric buttons. At the top there is a glass protecting the display. The latter is framed by a fairly wide frame. The largest thickening is in the lower part. Here, the manufacturer displayed the company logo. The speakerphone Samsung GT-E2232 Duos (see photo in the article) is closed with a silver trapezoidal lattice. The microphone is brought to the lower end, and to the upper - a flashlight and an audio jack. The side faces are not informative, only on the right side is the slot for connecting the charger cable. The developers covered it with a special plastic lid, which prevents the penetration of debris.
Equipment
The packaging box is pretty bright. It used several colors. White became predominant. A blue company logo stands out against its background. The arched lines are decorated in green and yellow. They focus on the image of the phone. Designers chose an unusual perspective, which also gives a certain originality. The model name is printed in large print and is located at the very bottom of the front panel. The manufacturer chose the advertising slogan: “Let the music play!” This was not accidental. The central button of the joystick is programmed for quick access to the music player, responsible for playing tracks. Not without its brief characteristics.
If the appearance of the box looks presentable, then the package bundle is rather meager. In addition to the battery and charger, there is nothing more. Of course, the buyer will find there the phone itself and the documentation for the Samsung GT-E2232 Duos. The instruction will help the user quickly understand all those few functions that this unit is equipped with.
Display Features
When comparing with other devices of this segment, the screen cannot be called an advantage of this model. It is quite small - 1.77ʺ. During the manufacture of the display, the developers applied TFT technology. The ability to display a color palette is limited to only 262 thousand shades. The image on the screen is displayed with a resolution of 128 × 160 px. What result can owners of Samsung GT-E2232 Duos count on? Games, photos, pictures, videos are not clearly displayed. Granularity is present. However, according to many users, no one expected another result, given the price category. The physical size of the screen is enough to display only 10 lines. Two of them are occupied with official information.
Compared to the competition, the big difference is noticeable with the Fly DS185. It is sold in the same segment, but is equipped with a better screen.
Keyboard
Mobile Samsung GT-E2232 Duos is equipped with mechanical plastic buttons. Visually, they are divided into two blocks. The first is located directly below the screen. Consists of standard five keys. Four of them are arranged on the principle of 2 + 2, are in pairs under each other. The receive button is displayed on the left side, and the reset button (end call) is on the right. Soft keys are standard. The joystick is round, five-position. The central button allows you to control the music player.
The digital unit consists of 12 keys. Each of them is quite large in shape. They are located together. However, this does not bother users. All owners claim that it’s convenient to press buttons. The move is excellent. The white backlight emphasizes the designation well. Users have no complaints about the keyboard.
Samsung GT-E2232 Duos: battery specifications
The strengths of this device include battery specifications. The GT-E2232 Duos uses a capacious branded 1000 mAh battery. Designers used lithium-ion technology for its manufacture, which ensures high quality. A full charge is carried out for 2.5 hours.
In order to understand the characteristics of the battery, you must first look at the instructions. There, the manufacturer indicates the test results that this model showed. If you believe these statements, then you can talk without recharging for about 14 hours. But in standby mode, the battery life will be almost a month (660 hours).
Now let's look at the results of independent testing of the capabilities of the Samsung GT-E2232 Duos. The expert’s review is based on the operation of the phone in the conditions of Moscow operators. The device can function without additional recharging up to five days, if the load is limited to 20 minutes of calls and the same amount of time is allocated to other options every day. When reducing tasks, the user can count up to a week of battery life.
When compared with other devices of the same price category, the characteristics of the battery are quite similar. Indicators of autonomy can be safely attributed to the standard. The reason for this is one radio module, which consumes as much energy as phones with one SIM card consume.
A few words about device memory
Samsung GT-E2232 Duos is not a smartphone, so the manufacturer used only 20 MB of integrated memory. Of course, this amount is not enough to store most of the information. And if you consider that the phone is positioned as a music model, expanding the storage becomes the most relevant. For this reason, the developers have provided a slot for a memory card. The owner can use a flash drive up to 8 GB. This amount is enough to store a large number of music tracks.
Camera
There is no point in dwelling on the description of the characteristics of the Samsung GT-E2232 Duos camera. The reason for this is a very low resolution. The developers used conventional VGA optics. It is based on a 0.3 megapixel matrix. By modern standards, such indicators are considered rather meager. Video recording is carried out at a speed of 15 frames per second. Reproduced with a resolution of 176 × 144 px, and this is the maximum that the owner can count on. The menu has several modes, effects, but they absolutely do not save the situation. The only thing a photo can come in handy for is installation on social networks and in the address book.
Features of SIM cards
The main "chip" of this phone is the support of two SIM cards. That is what allows him to compete with other devices of the budget segment. The developers used a single radio module of the Duos Lite type. It provides alternate operation of SIM cards. What does this mean? When one card is active, the second is blocked.
The benefits can also be attributed to the existing communication settings in the Samsung GT-E2232 Duos. Reviews about the phone confirm the information, which says that the user independently appoints the main SIM card, which will be activated by default. Slots for them are located under the battery. Each of them has a serial number. It is used when working with the SIM manager. The advantage of this application is the ability to assign any name to the SIM card. According to many users, this solution helps to avoid confusion that occurs with standard names using ordinals - SIM1 and SIM2.
When storing a number in the address book, it is suggested to select the phone or SIM memory. According to the choice, the subscriber will be marked with a special designation. Also, importantly, information is provided on which SIM card the call received. While waiting, the network icons are on the screen. Their mapping scheme is atypical. For the first, a place is selected in the left corner, and for the second - on the right.
Interface
Firmware Samsung GT-E2232 Duos appealed to many users. The developers used a fairly recent solution, as for the "state employee", installing the Slim UI interface. The low resolution of the screen, of course, greatly affects the quality, but still such changes were accepted with enthusiasm. Attention deserves Smart Home mode. It is filled at the request of the owner. Items are offered from the list of applications, in which there is a calendar, calculator, alarm clock, clock and more. You can’t move or sort labels at your own discretion. When choosing a large number of applications, the contents can be scrolled (flipped) using the joystick.
The address book looks pretty standard. Subscribers are listed in alphabetical order of names. If you select one, you can immediately send a message or call.
The main menu is represented by a set of icons that are displayed in the form of a 3 × 4 tile. When entering a certain item, the information contained in it is displayed in a list. The device is able to remember the last user actions. The next time you log in, the application or function of the submenu will be highlighted, attracting attention. There are only three themes for screen design. They are located in the “Display” tab. Their editing is not provided by the developers.
Music player
Samsung GT-E2232 Duos is equipped with a player that is simple by modern standards. Playable format is mp3. The user can choose several playback modes - cyclic, sequential and random. To download tracks, you can use "Bluetooth", the Media Player application and the synchronization program. The player recognizes the Russian language, so there will be no problems with the name of the songs. The phone supports almost all common files (eAAC +, WMA, etc.).
The developers did not provide an equalizer, so you can’t adjust the playback at your discretion. If necessary, you can use the filter, which sorts the songs by genre, album, composer. It is also possible to quickly access recently played and frequently used ones. During playback, an Album Art visualization or an equalizer image (individual settings) is displayed on the screen.
Samsung GT-E2232 Duos. How to flash a phone?
Over time, problems with the operation of a mobile phone often arise. Malfunctions can be of various kinds. If the device began to reboot on its own, turn on / off, hang, then the reason does not always lie in the breakdown. In most cases, just changing the firmware is enough - and the device will work again, like a new one. You can do this by contacting a service center. However, such a service will cost money. If you don’t want to incur additional costs, some advanced users recommend flashing the phone yourself. There are no difficulties in these actions, but there is a risk of turning the device into a "brick". Therefore, before these manipulations should seriously consider all the consequences.
So, it was decided to make updates on their own. To do this, you need to download three “.rar” files on your PC - FlashTool_E2 (program for updating), FlashUSB (drivers) and SAMSUNG_MOBILE_USB_DRIVER_INFINEON_V5_00_0_0.zip. All of them are archived, so a special utility is needed to work with them. The next step is to unpack the program and install the necessary drivers. FlashTool_E2 adds new firmware files. After that, the Customer Order is surely activated (the program will offer to put a tick). It is important not to skip the Infineon USB Driver item. In it, the user must select "Erase everything before downloading." If these manipulations are carried out correctly, then you can click "Start". The next step is to connect the phone to the PC. Before this, it is necessary to turn it off and on, while simultaneously holding the “*” and “on / off” buttons. The screen should light up in pink. If this happens, you can connect the device using a USB cable. The firmware update procedure will take no more than 20 minutes.