Samsung Galaxy Premier review: A droid of stature

Display

The display on the Galaxy Premier is a 4.65" Super AMOLED unit with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels, resulting in a density of approximately 316 pixels per inch. The specs might be identical to what we had a year ago, but this still remains the most pixel dense AMOLED screen out there.

The Samsung Galaxy Premier display

As usual for AMOLED display, colors are vibrant and contrast is impressively high. Unlike the Galaxy Nexus, the Galaxy Premier offers three display modes, which lets you tune down the colors if you don't like the default oversaturated look.

The brightness of the screen isn't particularly impressive, but the Galaxy Premier is still brighter than the Galaxy Nexus, so it's definitely a step in the right direction. And given that Super AMOLED displays are pretty resistant to reflections, the sunlight legibility of the Galaxy Nexus is pretty good.

Here go the Samsung Galaxy Premier results from our display tests.

Display test	50% brightness			100% brightness
	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio
Samsung Galaxy Premier	0	138	∞	0	328	∞
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III	0	174	∞	0	330	∞
HTC One X+	0.23	232	1016	0.28	421	1521
LG Optimus G	0.14	197	1445	0.33	471	1438
LG Optimus 4X HD	0.34	369	1077	0.68	750	1102
Apple iPhone 5	0.13	200	1490	0.48	640	1320

Contrast ratio

• Nokia 808 PureView
  4.698
• Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III
  3.419
• Samsung Omnia W
  3.301
• Samsung Galaxy S
  3.155
• Samsung Ativ S
  3.129
• Nokia N9
  3.069
• Samsung Galaxy Note
  2.970
• Samsung Galaxy Premier
  2.958
• HTC One S
  2.901
• Samsung Galaxy S II
  2.832
• Huawei Ascend P1
  2.655
• Nokia Lumia 900
  2.562
• Apple iPhone 4S
  2.269
• HTC One X
  2.158
• Nokia N8
  2.144
• Apple iPhone 4
  2.016
• Sony Ericsson Xperia ray
  1.955
• HTC Desire X
  1.878
• HTC Windows Phone 8X
  1.873
• Sony Xperia U
  1.758
• LG Optimus G
  1.753
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  1.691
• HTC One V
  1.685
• LG Optimus Vu
  1.680
• HTC Desire V
  1.646
• LG Optimus 3D
  1.542
• Nokia Asha 302
  1.537
• Nokia Lumia 610
  1.432
• Gigabyte GSmart G1355
  1.361
• Sony Xperia miro
  1.324
• HTC Desire C
  1.300
• LG Optimus L7
  1.269
• Meizu MX
  1.221
• Samsung Galaxy Pocket
  1.180
• Sony Xperia tipo
  1.166
• Samsung Galaxy mini 2
  1.114

You can find more about our screen testing procedures here.

Handling

Overall, the handling of the Samsung Galaxy Premier is a very pleasant experience. It's just big enough to remain comfortable to hold in one hand. The plastic finish is of high quality and is quite enjoyable to the touch.

Samsung Galaxy Premier held in hand

There's a certain charisma to the Samsung Galaxy Premier - it's both good looking and solidly built. Samsung seems to be adopting the premium design of the Galaxy S III in both its entry- and mid-range products and the result is an elegant device, which is done just right, without being overdesigned.