Samsung Galaxy Round unboxing and first impressions

The company that’s always on the hunt for the next big thing may be responsible for the next big trend. Are curved displays the next step in the evolution of smartphones? Here’s the unboxing and first impressions of the Samsung Galaxy Round!

Unboxing

The Samsung Galaxy Round comes in a large box, since the smartphone is itself is quite big, and features a curved display, that curves from left to right. Opening the packaging reveals the Samsung Galaxy Round, and immediately noticeable in the concave design of the device. Even though this is one of the first curved smartphones to be announced, holding it in your hand doesn’t feel as odd as one might expect, but will nevertheless take some getting used to.

Also included in the box in USB 3.0 micro-USB cable, a dedicated USB 2.0 AC charger, a spare battery with a secondary battery charger, and Samsung earphones. The primary battery is also in the box and needs to be plugged into the smartphone.

First impressions

For such a large device, it does feel light to hold, and the design aesthetics are helped by the inclusion of the leather-like textured plastic back cover similar to what is found on the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. Overall, if we needed to describe the Galaxy Round in one word, we’d saypretty.

While setting up the phone and hitting the left or right arrow keys, there is a little bit of a shake when the device is kept on a surface. But the movement is minimal, and shouldn’t draw away from the typing experience in any way. Since this was the first experience with a curved display, we did expect it to feel weird to hold and use, but with its familiar textured faux leatheraka plastic back, it felts somewhat familiar to Samsung devices released as of late – particularly the Galaxy Note 3. But, being that it has a rounded back, the Samsung Galaxy Round felt surprisingly comfortable, with the curve causing the phone to sit snugly in your hand.

Worth mentioning also is the fact that for such a large device, the Galaxy Round feels very light. With its curve, you do get to reach more parts of the screen, even if only slightly more, compared to “straightened” smartphones with a similar size.

Of course, when it comes to a Samsung smartphone, a feature-packed device is expected, and the Galaxy Round is no different. A lot of new features are included in the Galaxy Round to take advantage of the curve, such as Quick Glance. If the smartphone is kept on a flat surface, tilting it to one side will pull up a small notification window, giving you a quick glance (get it?) at your notifications. Other functions that can be set up included changing music tracks, view album lists, and more, by tilting the phone left or right. A better look at the various features of the smartphone will be a part of the detailed hands-on review that will be coming very soon!

Specs comparison

It’s obvious that specifications isn’t what makes the Samsung Galaxy Round stand out, and the only device it should really be compared to is the LG Flex. Let’s take a look -

	Samsung Galaxy Round	LG G Flex
Display	5.7-inch, Super Flexible AMOLED, 1920 x 1080, 386 ppi	Curved P-OLED, 1280 x 720, 245 ppi
Processor	2.3 Ghz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800, Adreno 330	2.26 Ghz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800, Adreno 330
RAM	3 GB	2 GB
Storage	32 GB, expandable	32 GB, no expansion
Battery	2,800 mAh	3,500 mAh
Cameras	13 MP rear, 2 MP front	13 MP rear, 2.1 MP front
Networks	4G LTE-A/GSM	4G LTE-A/GSM
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, IR, USB 3.0	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, IR, USB 3.0
OS	Android 4.3 Jelly Bean	Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
Dimensions	151.1 x 79.6 x 7.9 mm, 154 grams	160.5 x 81.6 x 8.7 mm, 177 grams

Gallery

What do you think of the Samsung Galaxy Round? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!