Samsung Galaxy Exhibit (T-Mobile)

T-Mobile has a lot of good phones, but right now, it doesn't have many Android smartphones that cost less than $400. Sure, that may not seem like a lot as you pay it off over time, but not everyone is willing to make such a substantial investment. That's where the Samsung Galaxy Exhibit comes in. It may not be the most exciting new device, but at $216.00 (or $9 per month for 24 months), it's the least expensive option you've got. And for a budget phone, it's a pretty good performer that'll pair nicely with an inexpensive, contract-free plan from T-Mobile.

Design, Network, and Call Quality
The Samsung Galaxy Exhibit is a slightly modified version of the unlocked Galaxy S III Mini. Keep in mind, however, that the GS III Mini isn't a shrunken version of the Galaxy S III?the G S III is bigger and badder in every way. But the Galaxy Exhibit has similar software and features, wrapped up in a smaller, more pocketable design.

From the front, the Galaxy Exhibit does look a lot like a miniaturized version of the Galaxy S III, with the same single Home button, the same plastic silver ring around the face, and the same pebble blue color. But at 4.78 by 2.46 by 0.42 inches (HWD) and 4.27 ounces, it's a lot squatter, thicker, and less elegant. The back panel here is made of matte plastic, and a curiously blue metallic embellishment around the camera sensor makes it look like someone forgot to take the protective shipping sticker off of it.

The nice thing about the design is that this phone is a lot easier to handle than a big phone like the Galaxy S III, especially if you have smaller hands. But I found the on-screen keyboard a bit too small and difficult to type on, which isn't usually a problem I encounter on other phones this size. At least it has Swype built-in, which allows you to drag your finger across the keys in order to type out words more easily.

And speaking of size, the Galaxy Exhibit has a 3.8-inch, 800-by-480-pixel TFT LCD. It looks reasonably sharp, though colors aren't particularly brilliant, and it could stand to go a bit brighter. Two backlit capacitive touch keys can be found on either side of the physical Home key. There's a Power button on the right side of the phone, a Volume rocker and microSD slot on the left, and a power port on the bottom.

The Galaxy Exhibit can hit up to HSPA+ 21 speeds on T-Mobile's network, which is a bummer; I'd much rather see support for the carrier's faster HSPA+ 42 or LTE networks. Still, the phone managed to pull in some decent data speeds where I tested it in New York City. Download speeds averaged just over 4Mbps, while uploads hovered around the 2Mbps mark. The phone also supports 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, and you can make calls over Wi-Fi, which is a big plus.

This is a solid voice phone. Calls sound well-rounded through the phone's earpiece, with good volume, and there's an on-screen button to pump up the volume even further once you've maxed it out. There's a faint ringing sound in the background when you pump the volume all the way up, but it isn't terribly distracting. Calls made with the phone sound very clear, though background noise cancellation is average at best. The speakerphone is loud enough to hear outdoors, and calls sounded great over a Jawbone Era?Bluetooth headset. I was able to use the headset to issue voice commands through S-Voice, which is Samsung's answer to Apple's Siri. The phone lasted for a decent 7 hours and 43 minutes of talk time.

T-Mobile's new contract-free plans start at $50 per month, and that gets you all the talk and texts you want, along with 500MB of high-speed data per month, after which your speeds are slowed to 2G. $60 gets you 2GB of high-speed data, and $70 gets you unlimited high-speed data. These are excellent rates compared with competitors like AT&T and Verizon, and complement the Galaxy Exhibit's budget-minded price point.

Processor, Android, and Apps
The Galaxy Exhibit is powered by a 1GHz dual-core STE U8420 processor, which is a chip we haven't seem much of. Though the phone feels responsive enough in regular use, it turned in some very average benchmark scores. You'll be able to run most of the 800,000+ apps in the Google Play store just fine, but you aren't going to see the best performance on things like 3D gaming.

(Next page: Multimedia, Camera, and Conclusions)

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