The brains of the operation - Samsung Galaxy Y Duos

The phone I'm hoping to use for this endeavor is a Samsung Galaxy Y Duos S6102 which was very kindly gifted to me by a friend who'd been using it as a cheap stand-in after losing her usual phone.  I was at their flat one evening and noticed it gathering dust - having had this project in the back of my mind for several months,  I realised it had a number of features that fit the bill :

The reasonably feature-packed Samsung Galaxy Y Duos S6102

• Android 2.3.6 ("Gingerbread")
• 3G, with dual-SIM functionality
• External antenna connectivity
• Lightweight and small form-factor
• 3MP, fixed-focus camera
• Micro SD port

There's a couple of downsides, however.  The 3G support extends only to the 900 MHz and 2100 MHz bands, meaning I'll be limited to the Optus network if I'm wanting to see 3G connectivity outside of the city (that said, Optus' coverage in Victoria is comparable to Telstra's these days, although the difference in the network performance remains to be seen - more on this later.)  The second is Android's lack of dual-SIM support.  As the Android platform has no such native functionality, any implementation has to be done by the manufacturer - meaning there's no API support, and hence no way to force the use of a specific SIM without user intervention.  By no means a dealbreaker - just something that would've been nice to have.

Since getting my hands on the phone, I've rooted it and installed ClockworkMod Recovery to assist with ROM backup and restoration.  I've opted to stick with the stock Samsung ROM, using Titanium Backup and a lengthy process of trial and error to remove all unnecessary bloat from the phone (everything from the stock music and FM radio apps to a host of unnecessary proprietary Samsung APKs).  This has resulted in a significantly more responsive handset, faster boot times and much improved battery life.

Overall, with a bit of tweaking, for a ~$130 handset, it's a solid little performer that's going to see some pretty interesting use.