GT-S6810P

Samsung Galaxy Fame GT-S6810P Smartphone

2013

Android Little star? Affordable, stylish and handy: Samsung's Galaxy Fame is aimed especially at young customers. But perhaps it can also attract other target groups with features like a 5 megapixel camera and NFC.

Samsung's Galaxy range consists of a wide variety of smartphones. Of course, younger customers who are less solvent should not be neglected. Samsung has launched the Galaxy Fame aimed at teenagers who are looking for a handy, affordable and stylish smartphone.

The 3.5-inch screen is smaller than most competitors of this price range feature. However, the cellphone is also handier. It can score with trendy social media applications and instant messaging services alongside a strong 5 megapixel camera, LED flash and autofocus.

Other manufacturers also offer affordable devices. For example, Sony's Xperia J features a larger, 4-inch screen and its Xperia E Dual accepts two SIM cards at once and allows switching between either one during active use. Many models from Chinese manufacturers are also within the below 300 Euros (~$394) price range, such as Huawei's Ascend G615 or ZTE's Grand X IN. If Android is not a must,Nokia's Lumia 620 or HTC's 8S are both powered by Windows Phone 8 and want to win over young buyers. What does Samsung's small Galaxy Fame have to set against that?

Case

The casing sticks to the current design of Galaxy smartphones. Curved, almost organic shapes are used to differentiate it from Apple's iPhones and sidestep further lawsuits. This results in a very pleasant hold because there are no hard edges. However, the glossy blue or white surfaces are agood basis for fingerprints.

Like the other Galaxy phones, Samsung's Galaxy Fame mostly features a polycarbonate exterior. It has the same size as Sony's Xperia E Dual, which is also equipped with a 3.5-inch screen. The 5 additional grams are barely noticed when compared with Sony's device. However, it becomes obvious that a lot more focus is placed on weight reduction in higher quality smartphones when the Fame is compared with these. Samsung's stronger S3 Mini is slimmer and weighs just as much as the Galaxy Fame despite a bigger screen.

The completely removable back cover, made of a thin layer of plastic, cannot defy pressure sufficiently and it can become visible on the screen on the front. However, the casing is very rigid and exhibits a first-rate build.

Connectivity

Headset jack, micro-USB port, volume rocker and standby button - these four controls are installed on the four narrow sides of most smartphones. The Galaxy Fame is no exception. The big "home" button is on the front. The "menu" button is located on its left and "back" is on its right. The latter two are only visible when they are illuminated. The user can select whether they are to permanently shine in an appealing blue or fade out after a while in the settings.

Samsung's Galaxy Fame sports two webcams. The rear-facing camera even features autofocus and an LED flash. Samsung made cutbacks in storage. Only 512 MB of working memory is installed and 4 GB of flash memory is available for data. Since Android also reserves storage, only a bit over 1.6 GB is available for personal applications and data. Although the memory can be expanded up to 32 GB via a micro-SD slot beneath the back cover, not all apps can be moved to the micro-SD card. We even had to delete a few benchmarks before we could install others because the storage got tight during our tests.

Right: Standby button

Top: Audio jack

Left: Volume rocker

Bottom: Micro-USB port

Software

Android 4.1.1 is installed, which is a current version. Samsung only modified a few details and colors of the user interface. It is unfortunate that annoying bloatware has also found its way on cellphones and tablets. This software is preinstalled and wants to either sell something or is only a trial version of the program. For example, we found many fee-based games in Samsung's Game Hub. A Samsung account also has to be created in order to take advantage of the full range of functions. However, there are also a few useful apps, such as Samsung's organizer S Planner or the What's App alternative ChatON.

GPS test

Communication & GPS

Our test phone does not support swift LTE, it is possible to access the internet via HSDPA+. The phone supports all four GSM frequencies so that making calls abroad is no problem. Wi-Fi is supported in the 2.4 GHz frequency according to the 802.11 b/g/n standard. New standards, such as Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, S Beam and Wi-Fi Direct are also included.

Navigation and localization are possible via GPS and a Glonass module. They worked properly in a test. The phone quickly found several satellites and could determine our position up to 10 meters.

Speech Quality

The called partner was well-intelligible but sounded a bit faint when Samsung's Galaxy Fame was used for calls. The voice still sounded slightly dull when the speaker was used. Its maximum volume is not very high either. The called person could always understand us very well; our voice was loud and clear.

Telephony

Android's default version of the telephone app is installed and Samsung only expanded it and modified its color very slightly. The installed front-facing camera enables making video calls using the telephone app.

Cameras & Multimedia

The rear-facing camera has a resolution of 2560x1920 pixels and features autofocus as well as LED flash. The pictures look colorful due to the comparatively large lens and are also focused owing to the autofocus. Only the background looks a bit faint. The camera quickly finds its limits in poor light conditions, which results in color noise and blurry contours. However, the LED flash can compensate this well. The front-facing camera's resolution of 640x480 pixels is mainly conceived for video callsand does not supply a compelling picture quality.

Reference: Canon EOS 450D, 12 MP

Front-facing camera: VGA (640x480 pixels)

Rear-facing camera: 5 MP, autofocus, LED flash

Samsung does not include many accessories.

Accessories

Apart from the small power supply with a non-removable cord, the box of Samsung's Galaxy Fame includes a USB cable and a quick start guide. Unlike most smartphones, there is no headset included.

Samsung's website not only offers such a headset for a reasonable price of 12.90 Euros (~$17), but a range of other accessories as well. However, products specifically made for Samsung's Galaxy Fame are not available.

Warranty

Samsung includes a 24-month warranty on its cellphones and six months on the included accessories. It is an international warranty that can be claimed in other countries. Samsung either sends the customer back to the retailer or one of Samsung's authorized service centers. The manufacturer does not offer warranty upgrades.

Input Devices & Controls

There's not much room when the keyboard is held in landscape mode

Samsung uses Android's virtual default keyboard. The keys are quite small owing to the small 3.5-inch screen. Nevertheless, the user canusually type without errors even when the phone is held in portrait mode. The keys are naturally wider in landscape mode and the keyboard suggests words after entering a few characters. Larger screens are certainly more convenient and allow typing longer texts. However, the keyboard is sufficient for the occasional SMS or short email.

Display

It is already obvious at first glance that Samsung did not install a color rich and high-contrast Super AMOLED screen as found in the Galaxy family's premium models and also the Galaxy Express standard model. Instead, a common TFT screen with a rather low resolution of only 320x480 pixels is used.

However, the screen's brightness is quite high. We measured an average of 462.2 cd/m²; Apple'siPhone 5 is not much brighter. Of course, our test device cannot outshine the brightness leader Nokia Lumia 620. Nevertheless, it proves that low-cost screens do not necessarily have to be dark. The illumination of 92% is also very even but the black value of 0.92 cd/m² is not very compelling.

462 cd/m² 480 cd/m² 456 cd/m² 451 cd/m² 477 cd/m² 463 cd/m² 441 cd/m² 474 cd/m² 456 cd/m²

Distribution of brightness

Information

X-Rite i1Pro 2

Maximum: 480 cd/m²
Average: 462.2 cd/m²
Brightness Distribution: 92 %
Center on Battery: 477 cd/m²
Black: 0.91 cd/m²
Contrast: 524:1

A high black value indicates a low contrast ratio. In fact, Samsung's Galaxy Fame places itself at the very back of the compared devices with a contrast of only 524:1. The contrast of Sony's Xperia J is almost twice as high. Consequently, the picture of Samsung's Galaxy Fame looks pale.

We perform additional color analysis using CalMAN software and the colorimeter. The results can be seen in the following screenshots. The screen particularly overemphasizes blue and green hues, which leads to a very cold color impression. The screen also covers gray hues with a bluish cast. Only deep black remains within the scale.

CalMan - color accuracy

CalMan - grayscales

CalMan - color saturation

Outdoors

The screen of Samsung's Galaxy Fame can defy reflections caused by the glossy surface on cloudy days quite well due to the high brightness rates. It is naturally more eye-friendly to sit in the shade or indoors though.

The lateral viewing angles are not very stable because of the TFT technology. A 30 degree angle is enough to cause contrast shifts and color deviations on the screen. However, this effect is not as severe when tilting the device up or down in portrait mode. Thus, Samsung's Galaxy Fame leaves mixed feelings in this category.

Horizontal viewing angles: Samsung Fame GT-S6810P

Vertical viewing angles: Samsung Fame GT-S6810P

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Performance

Samsung's Galaxy Fame is based on a single-chip system from Broadcom. It is the model BCM21654 and features a 1 GHz single-core processor and a single-core graphics card dubbed VideoCore IV. This bundle is complimented by 512 MB of working memory and 4 GB of flash memory for storing data.

Sony's Xperia J and Xperia E dual also rely on a 1 GHz single-core CPU, but from Qualcomm. Otherwise, all compared devices feature either dual-core CPUs or faster clocking processors.

Samsung's Galaxy Fame lagged behind most compared devices in the synthetic benchmarks. OnlySony's Xperia J was just as slow in some tests. Android could usually be used without major delays, but animations were considerably jerkier than on stronger devices and it occasionally took a bit longer for applications to load.

AnTuTu Benchmark v3 - Total Score (sort by value)
Samsung Galaxy Fame GT-S6810P	4434 Points ∼12%
Sony Xperia J	4075 Points ∼11%-8%
Sony Xperia E dual	5517 Points ∼15%+24%
Huawei Ascend G615	14578 Points ∼41%+229%
ZTE Grand X IN	11317 Points ∼32%+155%

Geekbench 2 - 32 Bit - Total Score (sort by value)
Samsung Galaxy Fame GT-S6810P	468 Points ∼4%
Sony Xperia J	465 Points ∼4%-1%
Sony Xperia E dual	498 Points ∼4%+6%
Huawei Ascend G615	1803 Points ∼14%+285%
ZTE Grand X IN	853 Points ∼7%+82%

Linpack for Android
Single Thread (sort by value)
Samsung Galaxy Fame GT-S6810P	26.076 MFLOPS ∼3%
Sony Xperia J	38.884 MFLOPS ∼5%+49%
Sony Xperia E dual	38.615 MFLOPS ∼5%+48%
Huawei Ascend G615	46.704 MFLOPS ∼6%+79%
ZTE Grand X IN	62.147 MFLOPS ∼8%+138%
Multi Thread (sort by value)
Samsung Galaxy Fame GT-S6810P	24.388 MFLOPS ∼2%
Sony Xperia J	37.382 MFLOPS ∼3%+53%
Sony Xperia E dual	37.11 MFLOPS ∼3%+52%
Huawei Ascend G615	148.998 MFLOPS ∼10%+511%
ZTE Grand X IN	60.925 MFLOPS ∼4%+150%

Legend

Samsung Galaxy Fame GT-S6810PBroadcom BCM28155, Broadcom VideoCore-IV, 4 GB Flash

Nokia Lumia 620Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus MSM8227, Qualcomm Adreno 305, 8 GB SSD

Sony Xperia JQualcomm Snapdragon S1 MSM7227A, Qualcomm Adreno 200, 4 GB Flash

Sony Xperia E dualQualcomm Snapdragon S1 MSM7227A, Qualcomm Adreno 200, 4 GB Flash

Huawei Ascend G615HiSilicon k3v2 Hi3620, Vivante GC800, 8 GB SSD

ZTE Grand X INIntel Atom Z2460, PowerVR SGX540, 2 GB NAND Flash

The single-core graphics card does not supply outstanding performance either and was either last or second to last in most 3D benchmarks. The graphics card only scored in Basemark ES 2.0. Many 3D benchmarks, for example 3DMark or GLBench 2.7, refused to work on the graphics card and crashed or did not start. The graphics card also had problems with some games, which can be read about in the Gaming section.

NenaMark2 - --- (sort by value)
Samsung Galaxy Fame GT-S6810P	27.1 fps ∼40%
Sony Xperia J	19.6 fps ∼29%-28%
Sony Xperia E dual	27.4 fps ∼41%+1%
Huawei Ascend G615	59.8 fps ∼89%+121%
ZTE Grand X IN	45.1 fps ∼67%+66%

Antutu 3DRating - --- (sort by value)
Samsung Galaxy Fame GT-S6810P	1964 Points ∼17%
Sony Xperia J	1826 Points ∼16%-7%
Sony Xperia E dual	2904 Points ∼26%+48%
Huawei Ascend G615	3546 Points ∼31%+81%
ZTE Grand X IN	3183 Points ∼28%+62%

Basemark ES 2.0 - Taiji Free (sort by value)
Samsung Galaxy Fame GT-S6810P	24.58 fps ∼41%
Sony Xperia J	5.8 fps ∼10%-76%
Sony Xperia E dual	11.54 fps ∼19%-53%
Huawei Ascend G615	29.05 fps ∼48%+18%
ZTE Grand X IN	17.06 fps ∼28%-31%

GLBenchmark 2.5 - Egypt HD Fixed Time (sort by value)
Samsung Galaxy Fame GT-S6810P	6.8 fps ∼11%
Huawei Ascend G615	19 fps ∼32%+179%

Although most websites are not really fun on the small screen in low resolutions, the performance of Samsung's Galaxy Fame is midfield in the browser benchmarks. Internet browsing was also subjectively quite smooth regardless whether via Wi-Fi or HSDPA.

Google V8 Ver. 7 - Google V8 Ver. 7 Score (sort by value)
Samsung Galaxy Fame GT-S6810P	1146 Points ∼6%
Nokia Lumia 620	460 Points ∼3%-60%
Sony Xperia J	704 Points ∼4%-39%
Sony Xperia E dual	705 Points ∼4%-38%
Huawei Ascend G615	1317 Points ∼7%+15%
ZTE Grand X IN	1742 Points ∼9%+52%

Octane V1 - Total Score (sort by value)
Samsung Galaxy Fame GT-S6810P	1097 Points ∼5%
Sony Xperia J	845 Points ∼4%-23%
Huawei Ascend G615	977 Points ∼5%-11%
ZTE Grand X IN	1724 Points ∼8%+57%

Vellamo Mobile Benchmark 2.0
Metal (sort by value)
Samsung Galaxy Fame GT-S6810P	315 Points ∼18%
Sony Xperia J	312 Points ∼17%-1%
Sony Xperia E dual	318 Points ∼18%+1%
Huawei Ascend G615	458 Points ∼26%+45%
ZTE Grand X IN	531 Points ∼30%+69%
HTML5 (sort by value)
Samsung Galaxy Fame GT-S6810P	1224 Points ∼39%
Sony Xperia J	939 Points ∼30%-23%
Sony Xperia E dual	1056 Points ∼34%-14%
Huawei Ascend G615	1549 Points ∼50%+27%
ZTE Grand X IN	1277 Points ∼41%+4%

Peacekeeper - --- (sort by value)
Samsung Galaxy Fame GT-S6810P	412 Points ∼7%
Nokia Lumia 620	214 Points ∼3%-48%
Sony Xperia J	287 Points ∼5%-30%
Sony Xperia E dual	325 Points ∼5%-21%
Huawei Ascend G615	431 Points ∼7%+5%
ZTE Grand X IN	575 Points ∼9%+40%

The 4 GB flash memory, of which only roughly 1.7 GB is really available for apps and data, is rather slow. Samsung's Galaxy Fame was consistently last in the synthetic benchmarks. This is very likely also related to the tight working memory capacity and slow processor.

AndroBench 3
Sequential Read 256KB (sort by value)
Samsung Galaxy Fame GT-S6810P	25.96 MB/s ∼16%
Sony Xperia J	29.64 MB/s ∼18%+14%
Sony Xperia E dual	32.37 MB/s ∼19%+25%
Huawei Ascend G615	37.8 MB/s ∼23%+46%
ZTE Grand X IN	38.93 MB/s ∼23%+50%
Sequential Write 256KB (sort by value)
Samsung Galaxy Fame GT-S6810P	3.59 MB/s ∼6%
Sony Xperia J	5.3 MB/s ∼9%+48%
Sony Xperia E dual	4.74 MB/s ∼8%+32%
Huawei Ascend G615	10.3 MB/s ∼18%+187%
ZTE Grand X IN	4.74 MB/s ∼8%+32%
Random Read 4KB (sort by value)
Samsung Galaxy Fame GT-S6810P	5.2 MB/s ∼25%
Sony Xperia J	6.49 MB/s ∼31%+25%
Sony Xperia E dual	7.56 MB/s ∼36%+45%
Huawei Ascend G615	6.97 MB/s ∼33%+34%
ZTE Grand X IN	9.13 MB/s ∼44%+76%
Random Write 4KB (sort by value)
Samsung Galaxy Fame GT-S6810P	0.17 MB/s ∼6%
Sony Xperia J	0.25 MB/s ∼9%+47%
Sony Xperia E dual	0.23 MB/s ∼8%+35%
Huawei Ascend G615	0.52 MB/s ∼18%+206%
ZTE Grand X IN	0.23 MB/s ∼8%+35%

Games

The smartphone is apt for just casual games, such as Angry Birds: Star Wars.

Demanding 3D games like ShadowGun: DeadZone or action games such as Zombiewood did not start on Samsung's Galaxy Fame. At least casual games like Angry Birds: Star Wars and all games we tested from Samsung's App Store were playable. The controls via position sensor and touchscreen worked flawlessly. Gamers will not be satisfied; they would be happier with Huawei's Ascend G615 or Nokia's Lumia 620 from the same price range. However, the lower supply of games in Windows App Store has to be considered in the latter case.

Emissions

Temperature

Samsung's Galaxy Fame barely heats up during normal use. The surface only heated up slightly to amaximum of 32.5 °C during longer full load, which is an unrealistic scenario. Consequently, the temperature increase is barely noticeable. We rate the temperature emission with "Very Good".

Max. Load

Idle

31 °C 31.4 °C 31.1 °C 31.9 °C 32.5 °C 32.3 °C 31.2 °C 31.3 °C 30.3 °C

Maximum: 32.5 °C Average: 31.4 °C

28.6 °C 30.4 °C 27.8 °C 29.6 °C 30.9 °C 28.6 °C 29.1 °C 31 °C 29 °C

Maximum: 31 °C Average: 29.4 °C

Power Supply (max.)  35.7 °C | Room Temperature 21 °C | Voltcraft IR-350

Speakers

The small speakers in Samsung's Galaxy Fame are located on the back's left beside the camera. They produce a quite powerful sound, which tends to overdrive and lacks bass - not much of a surprise considering the size. The maximum volume is acceptable, although only the called party has to speak a bit louder when using the phone, as mentioned above.

Energy Management

Power Consumption

Samsung's Galaxy Fame can score in power consumption due to the small screen and weaker hardware. We measured a maximum power consumption of 2.6 watts. It was a maximum of 1.1 watts during normal use. Only Sony's Xperia J exhibits a slightly better energy management and consumes less power with 2.1 watts during load. The tiny power supply unit of Samsung's Galaxy Fame supplies enough power with 3.5 watts.

Power Consumption

Off / Standby	0.01 / 0.2 Watt
Idle	0.4 / 0.8 / 1.1 Watt
Load	1.9 / 2.6 Watt
Key: min: , med: , max:         Voltcraft VC 940

Battery Runtime

The battery can supply 4.81 watt hours and 1300 mAh. That is only enough for acceptable battery runtimes despite the low consumption rates. For example, internet browsing was only possible for just under 9 hours. Only HTC's 8S and ZTE's Grand X IN have a shorter runtime, but they also have a higher performance and larger screens. The identical Sony smartphones achieve 12:51 hours (Xperia J) and 9:55 hours (Xperia E Dual). Samsung's Galaxy Fame lasted up to 16:40 hours in low load scenario. This rate is among the Top 3 in comparison.

Overall, we had mixed feelings about the battery runtime. The weak battery prevents better results but the low power consumption ensures acceptable rates. Samsung's Galaxy Fame will likely have to be plugged into a socket every second day when medium load is routine.

Battery Runtime

Idle (without WLAN, min brightness)		16h 40min
WiFi Surfing		8h 56min
Load (maximum brightness)		3h 20min

Verdict

Will Samsung's Galaxy Fame soon be a little star that everyone desires? Its stylish casing's solid build, handy design, the screen's high brightness and current low street price of approximately 150 Euros (~$197) that includes a 5 megapixel camera and LED flash plus autofocus point to this.

Nevertheless, the path to fame could get a bit rough for Samsung's smartphone. The SoC does notsupply much performance. Although it is enough for the operating system, booting takes a long time and there is not much power for games that are especially popular among younger customers. Apart from the maximum brightness, the screen also has quite a few downsides in form of a low resolution, weak lateral viewing angles and distorted colors. The battery runtimes are also at most middling and there are no accessories include. Customers also get annoying bloatware.

Buyers who do not want to spend more than around 200 Euros (~$263) for a smartphone will receive a deal from Samsung that clearly shows where compromises have to be made in this price range. However, first-time smartphone users who are looking for a handy and stylish device and do not expect top performance from a cellphone, rarely surf on the internet and do not care about playing games too much will find a solid smartphone with a few interesting features.

In Review: Samsung Galaxy Fame