The version of the Samsung Galaxy Apollo we had to review is the Galaxy Apollo i5801 model – which is exclusive to Orange in the UK. Don't confuse this with the regular Galaxy Apollo i5800 – the i5800 version doesn't feature the i5801's fancy silver bezel, but apart from that, they're the same phone, internally speaking.
The newly resurgent Samsung, fresh from the rampant global success of its Galaxy S Android phone, is now scaling down its touchscreen ambitions for those who can't quite stretch to the top-of-the-range phone's tariff demands.
Externally, the Samsung Galaxy Apollo is what you might call a phone of two halves. The back of the handset is a depressingly cheap, contoured slab of unkempt black plastic, with a single hole for the camera (SPOILER: no flash) and an Orange logo. It is not a sexy back.
Thankfully, the front of the Apollo is very stylish indeed, with the entire surface of the phone formed from one piece of glass. There's no plastic bezel here, with the only break in the glass being the hole for the Home button.
The other two buttons on the front face of the Apollo are the Android standard Back and Menu options, and they're not physical buttons – Samsung has made them touch-sensitive icons that beam out through the silvery surround beneath the glass front.
Thankfully there's a bit of haptic feedback attached to them both, so your presses are acknowledged in a physical manner.
Sadly, the Home button does not function as an optical or physical trackpad – there's no tracker option for gamers here, much like the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini and Mini Pro.
If you want to navigate through your text messages to correct typos, that has to be done through ultra-precise cursor placement with the touchscreen alone.
But what a touchscreen it is. The Galaxy Apollo's capacitive screen is amazingly sensitive – in fact it's one of the most responsive we've yet used. A tiny, gentle touch is all you need to register your input, meaning you can be super-precise when required for touch-typing.
There's a slight downer for us in that the screen surround is backed by a mirrored silver finish, meaning you often catch a glimpse of yourself in the reflection.
But if you don't mind seeing your crumpled face staring back at you when doing your first tweets of the day from bed, it's not a deal breaker. You will spend a lot of time polishing it, though – that finish is a smudge and fingerprint magnet.
Elsewhere, it's a very simple exterior – the USB socket, power button/screen lock and 3.5mm headphone jack sit on the top edge, the volume toggle switch on the left and… nothing else.
There's no physical camera button, with the only other blemishes on the Galaxy Apollo's all-glass front panel being a tiny proximity sensor near the earphone.
It's a classy exterior, as long as you always keep it facing up.
Your comments (3) Click to add a new comment
sidjames2001
December 2nd 2010
3. I just got an i5801last week. I like it. I want to persevere. I've been using the camera @ night- lots of lovely streetlight reflections and pretty colours. But I'm just not not too sure about the camera . I assume the brightness control is the F-stop, but is there a white balance or daylight control? That can be set at will? Maybe I'm just too used to making up my own settings and side swerving the whole scenes caboodle. I don't mind not having a flash, the lack of which is certainly parsimonious, but it should have one even if I don't use them much. All the colours just simply don't look well ( though in fairness I haven't uploaded and examined on a desktop yet ) The zoom function is convenient, my previous Sony Ericsson K770i only having it in video mode. Maybe I was just used to the camera on that, but thought I'd register my impressions.
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londonman
September 20th 2010
2. Forget this phone if you use a Mac and have loads of contacts in your old phone. I have been unable to find anyway of transferring over my old contacts. Touch screen great if you have small fingers. Too many mistypes to be of any real use. If I kept this phone I'd end up throwing it at the wall.
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browny71
July 29th 2010
1. First touchscreen i have owned and i have to say it is fantastic, only difficulty i have had so far is trying to connect it to my pc but i have now got that sussed, camera should have had a flash but for the price i paid £130 after trading in my old phone it is superb, everyone who has seen the phone thinks it looks more expensive than that....from the front! from the back it looks like a dogs breakfast, hopefully there will be some aftermarket ones to put on that will make the back look as expensive as the front!all in all beautiful screen, quick as you like android phone.
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