Sprint Galaxy Victory 4G LTE Review

Our friends over at Samsung have sent us the Galaxy Victory 4G LTE for us to review! And this is a mid range smartphone with 4G LTE for Sprint. It has some high-end features like Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, 4G LTE, and a low price point. But should you go for the Galaxy Victory 4G LTE on Sprint? We will answer that in the full review which begins now!

Design

Samsung did not give the Galaxy Victory a very flashy design. It has a silvery color to it and is a big device, you will certainly feel it in your hands. It looks and feels like many other mid-range smartphones on the market. It is similar to other Galaxy phones from Samsung on the market. It weighs in a 4.8-ounces and is .5-inches thick. Above the display you have a Samsung logo, a front facing camera, a earpiece, and a LED notification light. And like on most touch screen devices, you have a black lining going around the display. Under the display you have almost a silver lip and this connected to the silver siding that goes all around the device and partially on the back. On this silver lip, that is under the screen, you have your menu, home, and back buttons. They light up and are slightly raised from the lip itself. Samsung decided to put a dedicated camera shutter button on the Victory 4G LTE, which is always a nice feature to see. And this button is located on the right hand side and will come in handy. The left hand side has a volume rocker and your micro SD card slot. The volume rocker is split into 2(two) separate buttons, one for making it louder and the other for making it lower. And the micro SD card slot is hidden behind a door that is quite easy to open. Your micro USB port is located on the bottom, while your headphone jack and power/sleep button are on the top. On the back of the device you will find the 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, Sprint logo, and speaker. You get a classic flimsy plastic back, just be careful when taking it off and putting it back on. Under the back cover you will find the 2100mAh battery with Near Field Communications(NFC) built inside. And that is the design of the Galaxy Victory 4G LTE for Sprint, and while it is not the nicest design on the market it works well for the device. The chin’s or lips on the front and back let you get a better grip on the device and make it easier to hold the device.

Hardware

Samsung is known for having good hardware in their devices, and the Galaxy Victory 4G LTE has some good things to it. Samsung did not put a AMOLED display on the Victory, instead you get a 4.0-inch WVGA LCD Display that has a resolution of 800 X 480. And for a mid-range smartphone this screen size is average, colors look vibrant and images look real, and viewing angles are pretty good. As with Sprint’s other 4G LTE devices there is a big issue, but it will eventually be resolved. As many of you know Sprint is in the process of rolling out their 4G LTE network, so until it is available in your neck of the woods you will have to use Sprint’s 3G EVO network. And you will not get the fastest speeds on this network, but soon you will be enjoying 4G LTE from Sprint. For speed on the device you get a 1.2GHz Dual-Core processor, and it works well. Keep in mind that this is power Android 4.0 Ice Cream sandwich with a Samsung User Interface. And it does get hung up everyone once in a while, whether it is being a little slow when opening an application or when swiping through home screens. But, you have to remember that this is a mid-range smartphone and it is performing well on the Victory most of the time. You do have NFC or Near Field Communications built-in, this means that you can use Google Wallet. And this will let you pay with your smartphone and this a feature that is quite up and coming. You can also use Samsung TecTiles which are NFC tags. This way you can automate tasks and make your life easier. This feature is usually found on higher-end devices and it is nice to see it on a mid-range smartphone. Now we will move onto the cameras of this device. On the front you have a 1.3 megapixel front facing camera, and this works great for video chatting but is not the best for taking “selfies” or self portraits. And on the back you get a 5 megapixel back camera. If you are coming from a feature phone or a lower grade smartphone, you will be quite impressed with the camera. However, images can either be good or bad all depending on your environment. And the camera will record video in 720pHD. Overall, the Victory 4G LTE for Sprint has some good hardware and is perfect for the mid-range smartphone lineup.

Software:Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

Certainly, a high-end feature of this smartphone would be Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with many great Samsung features! For instance you get S-Voice, Samsung’s voice assistant that is a feature of the Galaxy S III. You are also running a lower version of Samsung Touch Wiz Nature! This will give you the nice nature theme options and widgets. The phone can get slow at times when opening or closing applications and when navigating through pages. I wish Samsung put in a slightly better processor, but you can’t always get what you want. In terms of applications pre-loaded on the Victory, you get the Google App Suite, Memo, More Services, Music Player, Google Play Suite, Samsung Apps, S Voice, Sprint Hotspot, Sprint ID, Sprint Zone, VPN Client, Visual Voicemail, Google Wallet, and others. So, they did manage to keep pre-loaded applications to a minimum. Google Wallet is a nice feature of this device and this is thanks to Near Field Communications or NFC. This will let you pay at certain retailers with just the tap of your phone. Samsung did a nice job with the software on the Galaxy Victory 4G LTE.

Bottom Line

The Sprint Galaxy Victory 4G LTE is a good-solid mid range smartphone. I like to think of it as device with some lower, middle, and high range features. Samsung didn’t make the design flashy but they did give you a dedicated shutter button. You have a nice 4-inch WVGA LCD display, you will eventually have access to Sprint 4G LTE, an okay 1.2GHz Dual-Core processor, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, Near Field Communications, S-Voice, and much more! It also comes in at a price that won’t hurt your pocket at just $49.99. If you are willing to spend more money and want a eco-friendly device with a couple more features you should check out the LG Viper 4G LTE for Sprint. You Can See Our Review Of It, By Clicking Here. However, if you do go for the Sprint Galaxy Victory 4G LTE you will be getting a solid mid-range smartphone. For More Information The Sprint Galaxy Victory 4G LTE, Please Click Here. We would like to thank Samsung for providing us with a copy of the “Sprint Galaxy Victory 4G LTE By Samsung”.