Available now
3rd January 2012

Two dual-SIM variations of existing Android phones, the Samsung Galaxy Y DUOS and Samsung Galaxy Y Pro DUOS look very different but are aiming at roughly the same market segment.

The "Y" in the handset names indicates that this is a low-end device (remember "SRWMY - Samsung Really Wants My Yak"). The current non-DUOS versions retail for less than €150, and we don't expect there to be a huge price hike with these dual-SIM versions.

The Galaxy Y Pro DUOS has a 2.6" 320 x 240 pixel touchscreen display, a QWERTY keyboard, a five megapixel camera on the back and a front-facing camera for video calling (which the standard phone lacks), plus dual-SIM capabilities. The handset runs Android 2.3, although in our opinion you might struggle to use some common Android applications because of the small size of the touchscreen. It looks almost identical to the standard Galaxy Y Pro.

If you compare the more conventional touchscreen Galaxy Y and Galaxy Y DUOS the differences are rather more marked. The DUOS version of the Galaxy Y has a bigger screen (3.15" compared to 3.0") with 240 x 320 pixels resolution, an improved 3 megapixel camera on the back (the original has 2 megapixels) and a smarter design. Again, this is an Android 2.3 device with dual-SIM support.

Dual-SIM devices such as this are popular in some markets and very rare in others. In particular, Russian consumers like phones like this and it is not surprising that these DUOS devices will be available there first, later this month. Other countries will follow, and hopefully Samsung will make more DUOS phones available in the months to come.