Samsung Bresson Review

Samsung Bresson Review

Released initially in 2008, the Samsung Bresson [or Pixon if you prefer] is one of the first phones that was able to compete with the Apple iPhone for mobile photography lovers. With an 8 MP camera and a display that is quite modern, with 16 M colors, HSDPA, and a 3.2 inch screen, some looking at this phone today would call it something that they would reasonably love. Named after a famous French photographer, the emphasis of this feature friendly phone from Samsung is clear. Is it still able to live up to the anticipation that it created so long ago?

The Basic Features of the Samsung Bresson Are a Bit Lacking

Users will find that the Samsung Bresson has a reasonably good set of features. There’s a calculator included that has a number of trigonometric functions included with it that provide niche users with an incredible value. A music player is included, there’s a front camera in addition to the 8 MP rear camera, and video calling is also possible with the Bresson. It should be noted, however, that even though internet browsing is possible with this Samsung device, it is not a smartphone.

What this smartphone does not have, however, is a Wi-Fi connection. There isn’t any voice guided navigation either, even though the phone is GPS equipped, and there is no smart dialing. The stylus for the phone is used as a dongle only and there isn’t a stylus compartment.

This makes the Samsung Bresson a smartphone that is primarily geared towards those who want to take mobile pictures and still have a great image. At the time of its release, it was the slimmest 8 MP camera phone that was on the market at 15.5mm, but that has been improved over time [the iPhone 6 is below 8mm, for example]. Users get to use the autofocusing features of the phone effectively and there are plenty of image detection features in the camera software that make it easy to use. The WVGA video even records at 30 frames per second.

The Samsung User Interface Is the Perfect Medium

In many Samsung smartphones, and Android operating system is used as the foundation for the phone, but the user interface that Samsung puts onto it is their exclusive TouchWiz system. The swiping that is required from this UI is usually a bit problematic, but that isn’t the case with this particular phone. Users can easily access the software or app that they want to use and then be able to take a quick picture or find the right route to take as they travel somewhere.

The multimedia functions of the Samsung Bresson are also still something that would be considered top of the line. It will play DivX and XviD files in addition to the standard MP4s for video playback. There’s an FM radio included with RDS and Bluetooth connectivity is included with the phone. It has a USB v2.0 port and 200 MB of internal storage for some limited app functionality. Most importantly, however, it has ShoZu integration so that users have direct video and image uploads from the phone.

What Have Users Found With the Samsung Bresson?

Although this phone is rich with features, that may also be one of its weak points. Many users have noted that they have had trouble with their Bresson freezing on them when they are attempting to access specific features or software on the phone. This requires a complete reset of the phone at times, including pulling the battery, and that can be problematic when you’re trying to get the perfect shot as a mobile photographer.

Although the internal storage is limited, the mSD card slot does allow for a reasonable amount of expandable storage for extra images, songs, or software. The Bresson also has handwriting recognition capabilities, a first for a phone of this size, and it weighs just 110g overall.

Otherwise the user experience is reasonably good. If users are looking for a feature rich phone and don’t necessarily want to have a smartphone for some reason, the Samsung Bresson has the goods to deliver a great experience. With a strong camera, good call support that sounds clear, and authentic sounds, there is plenty to love about this phone. It would likely be loved even more if it had full GPS support or could connect to Wi-Fi for graphics and video uploads.

What’s the Verdict on the Samsung Bresson?

In looking at this phone, users are going to be struck by the size of the 8 MP camera on the back at first. Technology has developed a lot since 2008 and these cameras have become much slimmer over time. It is nearly twice the thickness of a modern smartphone which provides similar features, but the Bresson is able to provide similar outcomes from a photography standpoint. For users who want a great mobile phone that can take sharp pictures and have a good set of user functions for customization, then there is a lot of value still to be found in this phone.

For those who want to have the traditional smartphone experience, however, the Samsung Bresson is not going to be able to provide that. The swipe functions are nice and software is easy enough to access, but the various apps that are so useful today on the modern smart device are not something that users will be able to access with this phone.

The Samsung Bresson is definitely showing its age. Although the features were highly competitive at the time of its release, that simply isn’t the case anymore. Many users are going to find the phone bulky, even though it is rather lightweight. Call quality is clear and texting on the capacitive touchscreen is fine, but that’s the limits to what this phone can do. If you like photography, texting, and calling someone, then you’ll like this phone. If you want more, however, then you’ll want something other than the Samsung Bresson.

Samsung Behold II Review

Samsung Behold II Review

Samsung has created a number of mobile phones over the years that have been highly competitive. By focusing on innovation and user-friendly features, this manufacturer has been able to stay competitive in a highly contentious industry where users are willing to pay hundreds of dollars more for brand name recognition and specific quality features. The Samsung Behold II is one of the phones that is the epitome of what this brand has attempted to do over the years with their extensive line of phones.

Packed with features that many users are going to enjoy and a number of key advantages that only the Behold II can provide, this mobile device is definitely one to consider today.

What Gives the Samsung Behold II So Much Potential?

The Behold II isn’t actually an update of the original Behold model that Samsung initially introduced. It’s an update of the Instinct, which was Samsung’s first true competing model for an iPhone. Don’t let the first impression will you: this is more than a phone that looks like a giant slab. The AMOLED 3.2 inch capacitive touchscreen looks beautiful, the control buttons are extremely useful, and the user experience with the navigation menus is reasonably easy.

It’s got all the peripheral inputs that you’d expect to see with the modern smart device, but the arrangement is a little awkward in certain ways. The 3.5 mm headphone jack, for example, is right next to the micro USB jack. Normally this doesn’t present any issues unless you have the phone connected to a mUSB port and a set of headphones connected at the same time. You basically have to remove both of them and then plug the one you need back in.

If there was one feature of this phone that could truly be called great it’s the locking button that is used just above the shutter key. Instead of having to hit the end button and then the menu button, you have a single key solution that can be depressed. This is standard now on many phones, of course, but this was a breakthrough in 2009 when the Behold II was initially introduced.

The Samsung UI On Top of Android Has Some Quirks

Samsung utilizes a Android operating system for the Behold II, but they’ve also incorporated their TouchWiz UI on top of this operating system. This gives the phone rather user experience that has number of advantages, but some key disadvantages that some users might find to be detrimental overall.

The most common issue encountered with the Samsung phone is when a user tries to swipe from left to right to access one of their three home screens. During the swiping process, it’s very easy to open up the horizontal app menus instead. Even the three homescreens is a unique experience in itself. Each one has its own background panel and the screens have animated transitions instead of a seamless scrolling option as you find on most other smartphones.

What everyone will like, however, is that the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi apps have been kept separate from each other in the settings menus so that you don’t have to access bowls in order to have just one of them work. On the other hand, the GPS navigation software is very easy to use and it integrates effectively with Google Maps. The one place of improvement, however, would be to include UMA support so that phone calls could be made over a wireless network.

How Good Is the Phone’s Operation?

The primary use for this phone is going to be data consumption. Most pages are going to load in about five seconds on a 3G network and even 2G speeds are generally faster than in other comparable models. There isn’t a multitouch function, so accessing the controls to zoom into small text on a non-optimized website isn’t always easy to do. The lack of a period on the primary QWERTY keyboard is interesting, but something that can be worked around.

What many users are not gonna want to have is a prolonged conversation on the loudspeaker with the Samsung Behold II. The vocals come through pretty clearly, but there is some ambient noise that tends to get picked up on both sides of the conversation and this creates some feedback that can get to be quite annoying at times. Some of this feedback even comes through when the phone is pressed against your ear.

The five megapixel camera has a pretty sharp resolution and there are some nice features about camera software, like being able to take panoramic shots, that a lot of users are quite to enjoy. This is especially true when you see the images on the AMOLED screen.

What Is the Verdict on the Samsung Behold II?

From an overall perspective, the Samsung Behold II is a pretty solid phone. It has access to the apps that you want, has a decent camera to use, and will allow you to access whatever data you need, wherever you happen to be. The only issues that tend to come up with this particular smart device are how that information and data is accessed.

For those who have a primary need to communicate with their phone, this Samsung device may not be the best option. Texting can be a little awkward in conversations inevitably have one of those “Can you hear me now” moments that are so dreaded. If there is any ambient noise that is in the area of the phone, the microphone is going to pick it up.

For those who have a need to consume heavy amounts of data and don’t want to spend a fortune on a premium smartphone to do it, then the Behold II is a viable option to consider. With good surfing speeds, a weight that comes in at 4.3 ounces, and at just 4 1/2 inches tall, it’s a slim smartphone companion that has a reasonable amount of strength when it comes to use. For that alone, it should be part of any new phone conversation.

Samsung Beam i8520 Review

Samsung Beam i8520 Review

The Samsung Beam I8520 isn’t one of the newest smartphones that is on the market today, but it still might be one of the most unique. It was made available in July 2010 and featured an Android operating system, the Eclair v2.1. Although it could connect a user to family and friends, the main reason to purchase this phone was the built-in DLP projector that could project images up to 50 inches in size at 15 lumens. As an added advantage, it also had an eight megapixel camera which could be used to simulate the effects of an overhead projector.

Most mobile devices don’t stand up well to the test of time. The Samsung Beam I8520 has technology included with it that would still be considered modern today.

Could It Still Be a Great Business Phone?

The Samsung Beam I8520 was one of the first mobile devices that included a comprehensive mobile document editor that was useful. This allowed you to be able to create documents no matter where you were and send them through email as long as you had access to cellular services. In some ways the functionality of the Beam is similar to the older Blackberrys that were on the market at this time. The fact that it can project images, however, helped to set it apart.

The super capacitive touchscreen on this phone had 16M colors and a pixel density of 252 PPI. If you compare those specs to modern mobile phones today, you’ll find that they are similar, if not worse than what the Beam released in 2010. The total resolution was 480p and the 3.7 inch screen was big enough to be useful without being overly cumbersome.

It also had scratch resistant glass that could recognize handwriting. It was equipped with stereo speakers and a digital natural sound engine to provide authentic sounds for movies and music playlists. A stereo FM radio was also included on this GPS equipped phone and it could play virtually any multimedia file, including DivX.

You Could Take Pictures Like a Pro With This Phone

The camera was one of the nicest features of this smartphone. Not only would the images from the primary camera come out with a size of 3264×2448, but modern smartphone camera features were included for an enhanced user experience. You’d have blink and smile detection, autofocusing, and an LED flash to fill in the light for darker pictures. You could also record video at 720p HD with the primary camera if you wished.

The one place where this phone hasn’t necessarily stood the test of time is in the memory department. It came equipped with 384 MB of RAM and 512 MB of ROM for processing power, which at the time was pretty good, but today doesn’t stand up to the 3 GB of RAM that some premium phones have. 16 GB of internal storage came standard as well, which is better than some phones still today, and this can be doubled using microSD cards. The Samsung Beam I8520 also came Wi-Fi equipped, Bluetooth compatible, and could connect using mUSB v2.0 technology, which is still the standard for many smartphones today.

What Are the Pros and Cons of the Samsung Beam I8520?

There are some definite advantages and disadvantages to the design of this particular mobile device. Here’s a look at some of the pros and cons that come in operating the Samsung Beam I8520.

Pros

It has an excellent projection quality. You get a competitively good image from this mobile device that is present in quality. As long as you have an empty wall, you’ve got a good screen that can be used to project a movie or a sales presentation without any additional equipment. Images flow realistically and without much blur.

You don’t have to convert the videos.This smartphone was one of the first that could film video at 30 frames per second. When you look at video editing software from the same era, the standard was actually 25 frames per second. This means that you wouldn’t have to convert the videos that you made with this mobile phone before being able to view them either on the screen or through the projection capabilities.

A dual camera design. The VGA camera will draw a lot of yawns, but this is still a standard design that is found in a number of new smartphones. With the 8MP stills that can be taken and the AMOLED display, this mobile device was a top piece of technology for quite some time.

The projection size was customizable. Although you could display the projected imaged from the Samsung Beam I8520 up to 50 inches, it still displayed just fine at 5 inches as well.

Cons

It was quite sluggish. The performance of this mobile phone was slow at best. It struggled to keep up with the competition when it was released in 2010 and it is 4-7x slower than modern smartphones today. This means you’ve got to shut down each app you’re trying to use on this phone before opening another, even with the multitouch recognition, and that cuts down on multitasking friendliness.

It was very buggy. Even with an upgrade to a new Android operating system that some users were able to get, the Samsung Bean I8520 was known for its glitches. Having to force a soft reset was a pretty common practice.

The location of the mSD card. In order to access your portable memory, you would have to reset your phone. That’s because the card slot was found behind the battery on this Samsung device. This kept it from slipping out, of course, but it also meant you’d have to start over any time you wanted to switch cards.

What About the Battery Life of the Samsung Beam I8520?

The battery that comes with this smartphone is a lithium-ion 1800 mAh battery that is obviously removable since the mSD slot is behind it. On a standard charge, it could last for about 7 hours of total talk time on a 3G network. This time could be doubled if a 2G Edge network was used instead. Standby life is about 500 hours and data access didn’t increase battery usage very much.

With a total weight of just 5.5 ounces, there isn’t a lot of user fatigue that comes with this phone. It weighs the same as just about any standard tool, so using it to project a presentation by hand is entirely plausible. It also has a nice, flat surface that allows for a tabletop display for longer presentations and unless you plan on talking for 8 full hours, the Samsung Beam I8520 will last all day without needing another charge.

Why Don’t You See These Phones More Often?

With just a few exceptions, the Samsung Beam I8520 was released primarily to the Asian market. It was done to test how feasible the technology was and how receptive the general public would be to it. The results were a little lukewarm, mostly because the 720 Mhz processor really lacked the power this phone needs. A 1Ghz processor, using dual core technology today, would have really helped it out. Quad core processors would be the obvious, best choice if you could make one change.

The lack of memory is also a big problem. The display is nice and clear and everything functions well, but users have to wait to be able to access many of the functions because loading times are pretty long.

Would You Purchase This Smartphone Today?

Yes and no. It would all depend on what the individual needs of a user happen to be. If you have the need for a portable projector, then this is still the phone to purchase. The upgraded versions of the Samsung Beam are actually downgrades. They resolution of the projector is lower, the internal memory is half of the I8520, and the only true advantage is an upgraded chipset. This one device replaces an overhead projector and a wall-mounted device, so it’s perfect for the small business that is looking to improve training or their presentations without a massive cost.

For every day phone use, however, there are numerous smartphones on the market that have processors that can reach above 2 GHz, have 10x the amount of RAM in them, and have a primary camera that is 13 MP or more. The SMS threaded view texts are nice for those who use that form of communication regularly and that’s also something the Beam I8520 doesn’t have.

For its time, the Samsung Beam I8520 was a pretty outstanding phone. It can still compete with today’s entry-level models and lower mid-range smartphones, but there are places where it is clearly starting to age. It is, however, the best projector phone that is on the market today that you can purchase. Until something new comes along, that will always be the case.

Samsung Galaxy Attain 4G Specs

Samsung Galaxy Attain 4G Specs

Samsung Galaxy Attain 4G, also known as Samsung SCH-R920, is a CDMA phone. It is not compatible with any GSM networks anywhere in the world. Samsung Galaxy Attain 4G can run on 2G Network, ala CDMA 800 / 1900 frequencies, 3G Network such as CDMA2000 1xEV-DO and 4G Network such as LTE 1700 / 2100. Announced in January 2012 and released in February, the Samsung Galaxy Attain 4G is now available on contract.

Features

Samsung Galaxy Attain 4G is about 113.1 mm tall, 60.5 mm broad and 11.7 mm thick. It weighs 119.1 grams or 4.20 oz. The phone comes with a TFT capacitive touch-screen supporting 256K colours, sporting a resolution of 320 x 480 pixels across the 3.5 inches display which puts its pixel per index at about 165. The display does support multi-touch. Samsung Galaxy Attain 4G has vibration alerts, MP3 and WAV ringtones, a loudspeaker, a universal 3.55 mm jack, a memory card slot with support for up to 32 GB storage and the phone has an internal memory of 512 MB RAM. There is no GPRS and no EDGE. But you do get WLAN connectivity, Bluetooth and a microUSB port.

Camera and Design

Samsung Galaxy Attain 4G has two cameras. The primary camera at the back is a 3.15 MP with geo tagging and video recording features. The secondary front facing camera is a 1.3 MP. Samsung Galaxy Attain 4G runs on Gingerbread, ala the Android v2.3 operating system and inside it has a 1 GHz processor, accelerometer, compass and proximity sensor. You get SMS with threaded view, MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM, RSS, HTML and Adobe Flash browsing, GPS, Java and SNS integration. There is no radio and the phone is only available in black. Samsung Galaxy Attain 4G can play most kinds of videos and audios. It also has all standard features, organizer tools and accessories.

Battery

Samsung Galaxy Attain 4G has a Li-Ion 1650 mAh battery which can support up to 200 hours of life on standby mode and can last for about 3 hours and 30 minutes of talk-time.
Samsung Galaxy Attain 4G is only available on contract from select carriers. It is not available all across the world and it cannot be bought unlocked from any store. The phone comes with Gingerbread but you can opt for an upgrade and opt for later or higher versions of the Android operating system.

Samsung B7610 Review

Samsung B7610 Review

How many times have you had to correct the problem on a text that you were sending from a screen-based QWERTY keyboard? When using a phone in vertical mode, the buttons on a modern smartphone keyboard can become so small that a single finger press could wind up hitting one of eight different letters. Even in a horizontal position, some keyboard setups aren’t a whole lot better. In looking at the Samsung B7610, there is a natural advantage for this Windows phone. That’s in the fact that it has a sliding design which allows users to access a full tactile QWERTY keyboard.

That’s not the only advantage that users may find with this sliding phone. Samsung has come to impress feature phone users with an upgrade that includes smart device options while keeping the highlights that make the feature phone so popular still today. Could this be the right phone for you?

Size Does Matter When It Comes to the Modern Phone

The primary issue with all sliding phones is that they are a little bit clunky. You’re basically having to hold two phones because of the sliding design. The Samsung B7610 is no different. At 16.2 mm thick, it’s only slightly smaller than the largest phones that are in its price point category right now, so it is a beast. Although the overall design of the QWERTY keyboard and the phone itself are nice and clean, this isn’t a phone that you can necessarily slip into a pocket and carry around with you all day.

A phone that is this size needs to have a good viewscreen in order to compensate for some of its potential design flaws and the Samsung B7610 does its best to make that happen. At 3.5 inches in size, this phone’s screen is comparable to some of the smaller true smartphones that are on the market right now. The resolution at 480p is also comparable to a majority of smart devices and the organic LED technology actually provide a little crisper of an image overall. That’s because the black levels are deeper and truer than what you’ll find in the average LCD display. The colors are also more vivid, although direct sunlight does make seeing the screen a little problematic at times.

What is surprising about the design of this phone however is that Samsung has decided to use resistive instead of capacitive technology to register inputs. This means you are going to have a sluggish experience whenever you attempt to initiate a touch command. Even when compared to other resistive phones, the Samsung B7610 is a little slower. You might be able to get away with a faster result with the small stylist that is tucked up in the right-hand corner of the phone, but the whole system isn’t very user-friendly.

The Data Input On the Samsung B7610 Is Out of This World

There are two initial advantages that are seen with the tactile keyboard input on the Samsung B7610. The first advantage is that instead of a five row design like many similar devices have, this phone has a four row design which makes thumb inputs a lot easier to manage. The second advantage is that users are able to blast through their data input needs with a remarkably high words per minute ratio. It is not uncommon for experienced typists to be able to hit 50-60 words per minute while you this device.

The keys of the keyboard actually have a decent amount of travel space on them and the entire feeling is one that can only be described as comfortable. You might hit an occasional error key here or there because the sizing of the keys is a little smaller than usual and there’s no extra spacing between the keys. The backing strength is strong, however, and the sliding design makes using the phone rather effortless.

Is the TouchWiz Interface Worth It?

Instead of the Windows interface with the classic tiles design, Samsung has put their own interface on top of the Windows operating system. In some ways this is nice, because data is a little easier to access thanks to the swipe screen mechanisms. This is where having a capacitive touchscreen would give this phone a much better user experience. Because it is resistive, you have to sit and wait with your finger on the screen to get the menu options the swipe open. If you time it wrong, you might end up is initiating a command that you don’t want to initiate.

On the bright side, however, Samsung has given this phone a 5 MP camera on the rear of the phone and there’s a triple LED flash that really helps to bring out crisper images in the dark. It’s equipped with an 800 MHz processor and 256 MB of RAM, so starting the camera application can sometimes take a while, especially if you have other apps or widgets that are active. When the app is active, the shooting modes are really nice and the shots look like they have come from a professional camera.

There is Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS support for the phone and these all work reasonably well. Download speeds are limited to 3.6 Mbps, so data access is a bit slower than other smart devices, but the Samsung B7610 is able to keep up in other ways. Call quality is pretty good and most users are going to find that a single battery charge will give them a full day and possibly more of talk time.

There are certainly plenty of features on the Samsung B7610 and that makes it attempting investment. This particular model stands out with its sliding feature to access the QWERTY keyboard and some users are going to find that to be useful. Others might find that design to be a little too difficult to manage. For users who need a mobile device to provide effective data input, the Samsung B7610 definitely has a lot to offer.

Samsung B7300 Review

Samsung B7300 Review

If you are attracted to the idea of having a Windows phone, then the Samsung B7300 offers a feature-rich option that can hardly be described as “lite,” as the official name of the phone describes. There are plenty of features that come with this phone that make it a viable investment option for anyone who is looking for an introductory level smart phone. Wi-Fi, GPS, and a number of apps give this a user friendly experience for a user friendly price.

What is unique about the Samsung B7300 is the fact that it doesn’t look like a traditional Windows phone. It looks more like a normal mobile device and an actual smartphone and this actually gives the phone some appeal. It’s taller than the average smart device, which makes it a bit easier to hold and use. Even the angles of the phone line to a more secure grip so that the average user isn’t concerned about dropping the phone while using it.

The Design Has Certain Downsides To It As Well

Although the taller design has some clear advantages, the one primary disadvantage is that it makes the viewscreen more compact and narrow. It’s just 3 inches diagonally measured and the resolution is just 240p. For a Windows phone, the graphics just aren’t as crystal clear as one might expect. The display is nice and bright, but the slight fuzziness that comes with the text and the graphics is a little off-putting to say the least.

One of the nice features of the Samsung B7300 is that it comes with a stylus. The design of the stylus, however, is not necessarily what one might expect. Instead of a stylus that is shaped like a pen and can be tucked into the body of law, Samsung has created a short, two-piece stylus that is strapped to the side of the phone through a metal loop at the top. The end result is that most users are probably not even going to bother with the stylus.

If you do pull the stylus out, it’s really not that bad of a system. Once you get past the awkwardness of a system that is different than you’re used to having, the Samsung B7300 offers a fairly useful tool on this phone. Putting the stylus away take some getting used to, however, and that will definitely frustrate a few users who decide to pick up this phone.

For those that don’t like the tile system from a Windows phone, the Samsung B7300 has a more traditional design. The apps are accessed through a slide bar that comes from the left-hand side. You can also pin specific apps, like Yahoo! Search directly to your home screen for instant use. The entire process is pretty user friendly and easy to access with one-touch. The only problem is that there are certain screens that have been definitely designed to be used with a stylus and that makes certain applications a little difficult to use.

You Can Surf the Internet With Ease

There are certain applications that Samsung is added to this phone that you won’t necessarily find on other Windows phones. The nicest addition is Samsung’s own video player, which is DivX certified. This allows most multimedia files can be viewed on this device. There’s also the Opera Mini web browser that’s been installed on the Samsung B7300 and that’s a better web browser than the Internet Explorer version that’s on the average Windows phone.

From a processing standpoint, the Samsung B7300 is actually a little underwhelming. It has a 624 MHz Marvell processor that is supported by 256 MB of RAM. For a smart device, this makes using the phone feel a little sluggish because multiple apps can’t be used at the same time effectively. There’s also 512 MB of read only memory for files that can be supplemented with microSD cards, but for practical purposes, this means most downloads are going to need to be on external storage.

As for the quality of conversation and overall use, the Samsung B7300 offers a distinct audio experience that is surprisingly authentic. The microphone isn’t too directional so you get stuck with the audio like tunnel vision that can sometimes occur with devices like this. Although it is far from being a professional sound system, users won’t feel like Samsung took shortcuts in order to lower the price of this phone.

What Is the Verdict On the Samsung B7300?

The one thing that Samsung is always tried to do with a majority of their phone is give users a decent camera that they can use in most situations. The B7300 tries hard to provide this service, but the reality is that it’s a pretty standard camera. At 3.2 megapixels, and without a flash, it’s a little hard to get good shots unless there’s perfect lighting in the outdoors. You do have an autofocus feature with the camera, but because of the lower processing times, the actual snapshot takes a while to engage. Many pictures end up being very noisy and with a lot of grain.

From a performance point, the Samsung B7300 does the basics pretty well. Emails, texts, and other basic data needs can be run pretty efficiently with this Windows phone. What makes this a slightly awkward experience is that Samsung has tried to create a phone that will bridge the gap between basic phone users and smartphone users. It’s a little bit of both and in the and it almost seems like it is trying to hard to be something that it really isn’t. It’s not quite a feature phone and it’s not quite a smartphone.

On the whole, the Samsung B7300 provides a pretty fair experience. It’s a little sluggish when it comes to multitask, but for most people, it is going to allow them to connect in the basic ways that they may need to connect to their family, friends, and work responsibilities.

Samsung B5310 Review

Samsung B5310 Review

Some kids can send out over 5000 text messages in a month. That’s a lot of abuse for a phone to endure, but the Samsung B5310 is able to stand up to even the heaviest texters with ease. The design of the phone itself is perfect for those who tend to email frequently, update their social statuses a lot, or stay connected with family and friends through text. The primary design feature is a keyboard that slides away from the main body of the phone.

Will the Samsung B5310 have the ability to meet your specific needs? Here are some of the specific features and advantages that this particular Samsung phone can bring.

The Slide Out Keyboard Is Excellent

There are a lot of keyboards on a lot of phone today that just don’t measure up. They are either too small to be properly functional, don’t offer the punctuation features that some people need, or are just too stiff to be usable. The full QWERTY keyboard on the Samsung B5310 isn’t any of that. The keys are nicely sized so that most people will be able to punt and not have to worry about hitting three or four other ones at the same time. All of your primary punctuation is also accessible without any combination keystrokes so emails and texts are quickly compose.

The only real fault with the QWERTY keyboard on the Samsung phone is the fact that there isn’t a shift key. This is been replaced by the caps lock key and it normally isn’t that big of a deal, especially with the predictive text input, but some users may find it to be problematic.

What About the Functionality of the Samsung B5310?

Like many of the Samsung phones from this era, users are able to access a number of widgets that come from a widescreen off of the home page. These are widgets, not apps, and the distinction must be made very clearly. You are not going to be able to access all networking pages through an app. You will be accessing them through the mobile web on the Internet. This tends to slow the process down a little bit, but not so much that it becomes a problematic issue.

It’s got the standard widgets that you’d expect, like Google and Facebook, but interestingly enough there’s a iPlayer widget installed as well. It’s a nice little widget to have because it allows you to access a 3G network or a connected Wi-Fi and download them directly to the phone so you don’t have the buffering that typically come with modern videos.

The one area of concern for those who want multimedia video is that the resolution of the screen on the Samsung B5310 is just 176p. Some videos are going to be quite watchable, but many of them are going to be pretty rough to see more than just once. Many users are going to decide to use this phone for data input purposes alone.

Some Multimedia Functions Are Nice To Have

Although the audio output of the Samsung B5310 could use a little help, there are a number of multimedia options from an audio standpoint that are quite nice. The music player has a pretty basic interface, but designing your own playlist is easy thanks to the information being split into album, artist, track, and genre categories. There’s also an FM tuner included in the phone so that you can pick up a broadcast as you’re working through the day.

The camera on the B5310 is just three megapixels in resolution, but that’s suitable enough for some outdoor pictures that you might want to take. Indoor images struggled to show up with any clarity unless there are large amounts of light present within room. There’s no flash included on this Samsung phone, so natural lighting is going to have to do for every image. Many images turn out vibrant, but it takes some practice to get there.

With this being a budget friendly phone, it’s a little surprising to see that there are GPS functions included with it. There’s also Bluetooth support and HSDPA is supported as well. Although there isn’t any natural navigation widget installed on the B5310, it does interact pretty well with the Google maps that comes with the phone in Java.

Many phones from this price point tend to struggle when GPS functions are enabled, at least from a battery standpoint. That’s not the case with this Samsung phone. Even with heavy use of 3G downloads and GPS data, most users are going to be able to make it through the day without needing to charge the battery. In regular use, the average person will find that they can get two or three days out of a single charge.

What’s the Verdict on the Samsung B5310?

If you are looking for an affordable phone that offers a modern features and you’re willing to live with it being not as smart as other mobile devices, then the Samsung B5310 has a lot to offer. It’s perfect for those who have heavy mobile data input needs so that users can stay connected in a way that best suits them. Although the quality of the camera and the lack of apps support might drive certain users away from this phone, the widgets are a good second option and don’t actually limit the overall use of the device.

The smaller screen is a bit of an issue, as well as the lower-end resolution that is available, so those who are looking for video playback functionality are going to want to look at other phones. If emailing, texting, or even MMS are your primary needs for a mobile phone, however, the Samsung B5310 has the goods to deliver some amazing results. The QWERTY keyboard is outstanding and useful, keeping users connected in their preferred method. If that’s what you need, then this phone is perfect for you.

Samsung Galaxy Admire 4G Specs

Samsung Galaxy Admire 4G Specs

Samsung Galaxy Admire 4G is a candy-bar smart-phone sporting Android (2.3) operating system. The white coloured Samsung Galaxy Admire 4G weighing about 123 grams or 4.34 oz and measuring 115 mm by 62 mm by 12 mm (4.52 in by 2.46 in by 0.47 in) is available on contract and unlocked in the stores. Here are the Samsung Galaxy Admire 4G specs.

Features

Samsung Galaxy Admire 4G comes with a 3.6 inches display having a resolution of 320 by 480 pixels that pegs its pixel per index density at 158. The TFT touch-screen supports multi-touch. The Samsung Galaxy Admire 4G comes loaded with light sensor, scratch resistant glass and a proximity sensor. The 3.2 MP primary camera at the back comes with flash, digital zoom and geo tagging. It can record videos at 720p HD. There is a secondary front facing 1.3 MP camera as well, meant primarily for selfies and voice calls.

Battery and Hardware

Samsung Galaxy Admire 4G has a single core, 1000 MHz, ARM Cortex-A8 processor and a graphics accelerator. The built-in storage is about 1.38 GB and you can expand the storage capacity of your Samsung Galaxy Admire 4G with the microSD option that supports memory card of up to 32 GB. Samsung Galaxy Admire 4G has a Li-Ion 2100 mAh battery that supports about 12 hours of talk-time. You get a multimedia player that has a filtering option according to albums, playlists or artists; it features album art covers and background playback. The phone has an integrated loudspeaker, supports internet browsing, has GPS and Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and mobile hotspot.

Interface

Samsung Galaxy Admire 4G comes with caller groups, multiple numbers per contact, search facility by both first and last name, picture ID and ring ID, calendar, alarm and calculator. You can enjoy SMS and MMS in threaded view, predictive text input, emails through IMAP, POP3 or SMTP support, instant messaging using Google Talk or Hangout, a microUSB port which can be used for charging as well, a universal 3.5 mm jack, computer sync, OTA sync and a plethora of notification options using music ringtones, vibration alerts, polyphonic ringtones and multiple phone modes. Apart from an accelerometer, the Samsung Galaxy Admire 4G has hearing aid compatibility, voice dialling, voice recording and voice commands.

Samsung Galaxy Admire 4G can run on CDMA networks or 800, 1700/2100, 1900 MHz frequencies and FDD LTE frequencies of 1700/2100 (band 4) MHz!

Samsung B3410 Review

Samsung B3410 Review

Some people want to have a mobile device that will connect them to an extensive data network so that they are always connected to the Internet. Others want to have a smartphone that is filled with modern features and are willing to pay any price for that. When the tactile experience is more important to a user than the overall functionality of a phone, the Samsung B3410 becomes a viable option. Built with the texter in mind, the full QWERTY keyboard that is reminiscent of a Blackberry device will make SMS texts easy.

The Samsung B3410 Is a Basic Slider Phone

The first thing to notice with the Samsung phone is the fact that it is unable to connect to a 3G network. This fact might turn some users away, but the design of the phone itself might actually bring them back. The Samsung B3410 offers a capacitive touchscreen and an intuitive interface so that shoppers on a budget are going to feel like they’re getting a pretty good deal.

The aesthetics of the phone itself are actually quite nice. It has rounded corners and a streamlined look that give it a modern appeal. The flat back on the phone also makes it useful for those times when you need to set a phone down and talk to someone on the speakerphone. The primary feature of the design, however, is the sliding component of the phone which reveals the QWERTY keyboard.

The sliding mechanism on the phone is a little stiffer than one might expect. Although you don’t have to be a strong man in order to open up the phone, it does a surprising amount of effort and you almost feel like you’re going to break the phone and doing it. Because the keys of the phone are real, there’s also a particular stiffness to the texting motions that can bring about a high level of user fatigue. The mechanisms take a little getting used to it, but for those who like a physical keyboard and the tactile experiences that come with it, the B3410 will satisfy those needs quite nicely.

The B3410 Is a Generally Responsive Phone

With a 2.8 inch capacitive touchscreen, this entry-level phone gives you buttons of a nice size so that you can start in and calls with ease. It takes a little getting used to the back button, however, because it’s in a natural usage point where a menu button would be. Having the right controls for the phone be on the external casing is really nice to have, while the dedicated camera and record keys will be found to be useful for certain users.

Although there are smart components to the Samsung B3410, it isn’t really a smartphone by definition. It will access the Internet for you and display web pages on the small screen, but the widgets that are installed on your home screen aren’t actually apps that can be used. If you text the Facebook widget, for example, you will go to the mobile Facebook page instead of accessing the data through an app.

If you are used high-speed data connections, this Samsung phone is going to be providing you with some culture shock for a period of time. The 2G connections are good enough to access social networking or a web page in an emergency, but high-speed data transfer is not gonna happen.

The Samsung B3410 Is A Decent Multimedia Phone

Although data connections are relatively weak with this mobile phone, the B3410 is a reasonably good multimedia phone for those who like to take their tunes on the road. Not only is a music player included out-of-the-box, but so is an FM radio and there is expandable memory tanks to the microSD card slot. There isn’t any GPS or Wi-Fi connections, but the affordability of the phone tends to trump this fact. As long as you avoid any high data consumption tasks with the Samsung B3410, it’s going to provide the average person with a good experience.

With 30 MB of internal storage, you’re going to want to have the microSD expansion to make sure you can play your favorite playlist. It will play MP3 and MP4 files, however, and there is the option for pictures to be displayed in the JPEG format. A2DP Bluetooth is also available and the battery is both rechargeable and removable. It only way is 113.7 g, so you’re getting video and music playback with FM radio support in a relatively lightweight mobile device.

The operating system is a Samsung proprietary offering and its primary function is to help you get the most out of the 2 MP camera. With a screen resolution of 240p, the graphics on this phone are not going to overly impress you. For those who need a budget friendly phone and the option to MMS and email regularly, however, there are a lot of good things that can be found within this phone’s specs. There’s even a stopwatch feature that comes pre-installed.

Is This the Samsung B3410 the Right Phone For You?

The age on the Samsung B3410 is starting to show. When these components were first introduced, it was near state-of-the-art technology. With today’s innovations happening so fast, an entry-level smartphone is not going to cost a whole lot more while being able to provide many more features. The primary user who is going to enjoy this kind of phone is someone who does a lot of emailing or texting and wants to have the tactile sensations of a real keyboard.

Some might find that the physical keyboard is below average, but it just takes a little getting used to and it will become a very useful tool. There are phones in the Samsung line of products that offer a similar experience without the physical keyboard, like the Genoa, for those who want a similar phone as the B3410 without the slider hassle. Although the lack of 3G connectivity limits the market naturally, this Samsung device is still a decent phone that will meet the needs of those who use it.

Samsung B3210 Review

Samsung B3210 Review

If the Samsung logo wasn’t on the B3210, the average person might just think that the phone is a Blackberry instead of an Android device. The visual aesthetics are remarkably similar – from the small QWERTY keyboard that’s part of the base unit to the navigation components that are smack dab in the middle of the phone, everything about the Samsung B3210 says that it is a Blackberry clone.

The visual aesthetics are the only place where the two brands have similarities, however, because the B3210 is more of a value purchase. For users who are in the market to get a new phone, there’s only one question that needs to be asked: is the value of this purchase worth the features that will be received with the Samsung B3210?

Those Are Some Small Keys To Text On

The size of the tactile keyboard on this Samsung phone are about the same size of the capacitive keys that you’ll find on the modern smartphone of today when it is in the vertical position. With a little practice, you can get pretty good at being able to hit the right key with your large fingers, but it takes some work. The tactile response of the physical keyboard on the B3210 add extra definition to the experience, which is definitely nice at times. If the purpose of having the physical keyboard is to be able to text quickly, however, the design of the Samsung phone comes up a little short.

Even kids are going to find it a little difficult to manage the actual spacing of the keyboard keys on this full QWERTY keyboard. The issue seems to be the design of the keys themselves. They’re actually slanted with the intention of making them easier to access, but the reality is that the slanting of the keys makes the phone more difficult to use.

One of the more interesting features that come with this particular phone is that you get two extra battery covers out-of-the-box. It’s certainly a small touch, and doesn’t really do anything to improve the functionality of the phone, but it does allow users to put a personal flair to their smart device without having to spend any money on a third-party item.

The Samsung B3210 also utilized the threaded SMS texting that allows conversational tone to the messages that are sent. Text and client also supports the inclusion of PO P3 and IMAP email linking so that you can use the B3210 to stay in touch with your work responsibilities as you are taking care of some of your personal needs.

What About Some of the Technical Specs?

The Samsung phone has a relatively small screen at just 2.2 inches in size. The resolution itself is pretty modest at just 220×176. This causes icons that are displayed on the screen to look more like an old 8-bit video game than a modern mobile phone. When the screen is exposed to direct sunlight, it’s virtually impossible for a user to be able to see without covering the screen with some sort of shade. The colors are nice and vibrant indoors, however, if you can get around the pixel location issue.

Some users might find the placement of the microSD card slot to be a little problematic as well. It’s actually located under the SIM card slot and is designed to be a permanent installation. If you plan on managing multiple cards, will have a difficult time doing so.

There’s also a two megapixel camera incorporated within the design of the Samsung B3210. Picking capture videos with a frame count of 15 and a resolution of 176×144, so it’s not going to be everyone’s first option to create images that could go viral. The interface itself appears to be design from interfaces that first appeared when cameras first appeared on mobile phones. It’s simple and really easy to use, but the resolution of the camera itself is its own primary limitation.

Multimedia Options on the Samsung B3210 Are a Bit Slim

You have the option of being able to play MP3 and MP4 files with this smartphone, but there is no internal memory that is included with the phone upon purchase. You can solve this problem by installing the microSD card or you can just turn on the built-in FM radio to enjoy some local stations. The Samsung phone is also able to play AAC and WMA files if you wish as well.

As for the audio output that comes when you’re playing music or videos with this Samsung phone, the actual sounds are a little muted and a bit blocky. It’s a lot like placing the phone inside of an empty cardboard box, sealing it shut, and then listening to the music across the room. You’ll still hear the noise, but it’s not there is an authentic noise.

Although this is technically a smart phone, it is important to note that the data connection that the Samsung B3210 allows is 2G only. This means that data will crawl to your phone at a rate of 50 Kbps. Although this allows you to visit certain mobile sites and access your email, most modern web browsing is not going to happen on this phone. When you pull up optimized large mobile websites, you’re still going to get an error message produced from the browser because there is just too much data.

How Is the Performance of the Samsung B3210?

If one were to compare the Samsung B3210 to a feature phone, it would actually be a pretty solid device. The call quality is pretty loud and you’ve got a reasonable data access that can let you customize your phone and access the data that you need to access from your email accounts. Allowing for the ability to get used to the smaller keyboard, this phone really can be considered an upgrade to an older model feature phone in many aspects.

Most users are going to receive a full day’s worth of use from a single charge of the battery, but data consumption greatly reduces this capacity. If you primarily use the phone for music, the B3210 holds up pretty well over the course of 3-4 days.

As a smart device, however, this Samsung phone is a little disappointing. Data sketchy at best and nonexistent at worst. The design itself is pretty comfortable in the hand and the compact nature of the phone makes it easy to transport it, but the body of the phone is made of plastic that could be sensitive to certain work environments. The benefit is that you can customize the front of your phone with different casings if you want, but the downside is that they tend to break more often than not.

From a user standpoint, the two primary advantages that come with this particular phone are its visual aesthetics and its affordable price. Even the simple inclusion of a Wi-Fi connection would improve the user experience with the Samsung B3210 greatly. On the whole, users who need to do consistent email updates or prefer to communicate with others through texting are going to find that the Samsung design here in this phone lends to a pretty reasonable experience. From a performance standpoint in the other features, however, the affordability of the phone may not necessarily outweigh the lack of features that are received.

What Is the Verdict?

Samsung seems to be directing this phone towards to specific marketing demographics: kids who need to have their first cell phone and want to do a lot of texting and adults who have a need to stay connected to email accounts while on a tight budget. This phone will meet those needs pretty effectively and the additional features are just a bonus for those target demographics.

For those who are looking for a phone that has full power and data, voice, and texting, using the Samsung B3210 may become a disappointing experience. Although you can connect to your social networks easily and have access to information, it is all server-based information. Anything over the Internet is going to download to the phone at a snail’s pace and that speed made be enough to drive some users away.

There’s also the question of the customization features taking away some of the overall strength of the design. Being able to swap out components of the case is a nice feature to have, but it comes at a clear price. This phone is pretty susceptible to drops and although a cracked cases easy enough to replace, there is an associated cost with it every time that happens. The shape is good and the price is good, but the placement of the microSD card is not so good.

If you have specific needs that this phone can meet, then you can save a lot of cash by investing into this phone. If you are looking for a phone, however, that can effectively meet all needs instead of just specific ones, then you will need to look closely at the features of this phone before purchasing it.