Samsung adds Galaxy 3 and Galaxy 5 to Android arsenal

Samsung Galaxy 3

(Credit: Samsung)

The stream of new Samsung handset continues with this week's announcement of the Galaxy 3 and Galaxy 5. Currently being shown off at CommunicAsia, both handsets are slated for European and Asian markets starting next month. The i5800 Galaxy 3 is aimed at the younger, social networking market and the i5500 Galaxy 5 should appeal to the style-conscious customers. Both feature Android 2.1 although I expect updates to 2.2 Froyo before too long.

Looking very similar to a Corby handset, the Samsung Galaxy 3 has a 3.2" (240x400) WQVGA TFT touch display in addition to a very average 3.0-megapixel camera with autofocus. The phone has 170MB of on-board storage in addition to a 1GB microSD card. One area where the Galaxy 3 shines, however, is its variety of connectivity options. Users have the luxury of connecting via 3G (HSDPA 7.2 Mbps), Bluetooth v3.0, or Wi-Fi 802.11 (b/g/n).

Whereas the Galaxy 3 only resembles a Corby phone, the Samsung Galaxy 5 actually gets branded as "Corby Smartphone". With a slightly smaller form factor, the handset has a 2.8-inch QVGA TFT touch screen, but nearly identical specs to the Galaxy 3.

If adding expandable memory to your handset is a concern, it's worth pointing out that the Galaxy 5 is reportedly supports up to 16GB while the Galaxy 3 handles up to 32GB cards. Also, the Galaxy 5 has a 1200mAh battery while the Galaxy 3 has a 1500mAh power source. I suspect that Samsung is trying to keep the costs down for both phone being that neither features AMOLED or Super AMOLED displays.