Looking at the specs this smartphone is not so different from the Galaxy S Advance. Although the exteriors of the two are very much different, the internal specs say another story.
In a time where advanced quad core, powerful smartphones compete for the market, the new Beam looks like an outdated piece of hardware, except for its projector.
An overly outdated OS, a 2010-era display and a mid range 5-megapixel camera, the Beam's target demographic appears to be ridiculously small.
The exteriors of the Galaxy Beam has a rugged, sporty look, with a black textured battery cover on the back and a large yellow stripe ringing the outside of the device, and all this gives this phone a solid feel in our hands. The phone is a bit thick and heavy compared to the other phones in the market, but that is because of its 15-lumen DLP nHD (640x360) pico projector which is built directly into the upper half of the device.
Unconventional as it may seem to some, this isn't Samsung's first time at the projector-phone; we've seen the manufacturer attempt this form factor with the AnyCall W7900 (aka the Haptic Beam), theAMOLED Beam W9600 and the original Galaxy Beam I8520. And compared to these, the new Beam is the best among the lot.
Another major drawback to this device is its outdated Android 2.3 Ginger Bread OS. Considering the fact that GB is almost two years old, it does not make much sense that Sammy decided to stick with this in the Beam.
finally the Galaxy Beam does well at what it claims to be good at (projecting media), but it's otherwise mediocre at best. That's not to say it's a horrible phone, but the low-to-mid-range feature set makes it a tough sell at $430, especially when you can pay the same price for much nicer devices these days. In this situation, it means that you either have to love the projector enough to justify the higher price, or the feature is so important to your business that you're willing to sacrifice a lot of modern functionality to get it.
