SpecEagle review · Samsung

Galaxy Beam i8530 review: 2012 built-in projector.

Item: Galaxy Beam i8530
Rating: 65
Author: SpecEagle Editorial

SpecEagle Editorial·Jul 2012·$700

Overall

65/100

Class rank

#1 of 11

Tier

Specialty

Buy?

Look elsewhere

The verdict, up front

Samsung Galaxy Beam i8530.

Galaxy Beam packed a 15-lumen DLP projector into a 2012 yellow-bumper Android.

01Display

64/100

64/100 — right at the average for specialty phones of 2012.

TypeTFT

Size4.0"

Resolution800 x 480

02Performance

56/100

56/100 — right at the average for specialty phones of 2012.

ChipsetCustom 1 GHz dual

RAM768 MB

Storage8 GB + microSD

03Camera

64/100

64/100 — right at the average for specialty phones of 2012.

Main5 MP

Front1.3 MP

04Battery

76/100

At 76/100 this is one of the strongest battery showings among specialty phones of 2012 — 9 points above the cohort average.

Capacity2,000 mAh (removable)

05Software

64/100

64/100 — right at the average for specialty phones of 2012.

What works

Built-in 15-lumen DLP projector.
Iconic yellow bumper.
Removable battery.
5 MP cam.

What doesn't

Niche projector use.
768 MB RAM.
8 GB storage.
Aged Android 2.3.

Cross-shop it against

Xperia Play

$200 · score 64/100

How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 11-phone cohort of specialty devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .