Jul 14, 2009 04:10 PM
11886 Views
(Updated Jul 15, 2009 12:31 PM)
Once I had some horrible experiences with Samsung C110 thats why before buying it I thought twice. Now I am going to tell my 2 weeks experience with this STAR S5233A.
Box Package: Contains the handset, battery, data cable, handsfree, stylus, Software CD and a really useful extra hard cover(which protects the fone display very well) and a rubbish user manual.
Ergonomics: The fone is well built and has a 3" screen in front. Under the display there three buttons i.e, *Call Accept, Call Reject and Back key. Keys are easy to use. On right side there are dedicated Camera button, Lock-Unlock/Hold key and left side has Volume Rockers *alongwith Samsung *Proprietory port for Charging, Handsfree, Data Cable etc(USB charging is present). Back has 3.2 Megapixel Cam without autofocus or flash. There is also a self-potrait mirror. Mouthpiece is at the bottom. Surprisingly theEar-piece is also used as Speakerso no separate speaker but that does not make any issue at all. Overall the fone is handy for day to day use.
Voice Calling, Battery and Other Basic Features: I was very doubtful whether I will be able to get even a moderate signal reception with Samsung coz as I told my previous experience was bad. But surprisingly the signal strength I get even in my office building(which is used to be a nightmare even for some Nokia fones) is pretty decent and is very close to which I got with N82 or N95. The in-callclarity is very good though that extra cover guards the mouthpiece so in noisy environment u may have to shout sometimes otherwise its fine.Ringtone sound intensity is above average but not very loud. Display is 200 X 400 and it is just beatiful but suffers little visibilty problem under direct sunlight. Phonebook can hold 2000 contacts with some details and SMS capacity is 500. U can make seperate folders for sms. If'on' the I-Reports get stored in Inbox.lil bit annoying huh? For'Send To Many' option u can send to max 10 contacts(unlike Nokia which usually support 20). Battery back-up..well not that satisfactory. Samsung should have included atleast a 1200 mAH for this fone coz the display is huge. Anyway, I was able to squeeze 1-1.5 days with 40-45 minutes calling, 3-4 sms, around 1hr of listening to music and 2-3 sanps. Supplied USB cable is good and'USB Mass Storage' is a breeze to use but wait.the PC Suite could not detect my fone! This fone comes without any memory card so I bought a 4gb Sandisk(probably this fone can take up to 16gb) which is working fine. But the problem is Memory Card has no hot swap so u have to remove the back cover of the fone to physically access it.again a pain. There are 6Profiles but u cant rename them and also cant make any new one. Another good feature is Photo Contact* where u can assign some photos to some contacts and they appear in lists. Scroll them and select a particuar one.
Touchwiz UI: No hardware key-pad here but that is not a problem at all. Touch sensitivity is good enough(it is Resistive Touchscreen unlike I-Phone which has Capacitive Touchscreen).u will be getting used to within 2-3 days.just dont forget to give slight pressure on the screen. U will have 3 separateHome Screens for different purpose along with some nice Widgets(eg. Profile, Note, Calculator and many more) which are configurable. Dialpad is there for quick dialing or saving contacts or checking'over the air' balance, validity etc. The standard Alpha-neumeric keypad is fantastic to use. Turn the display while writing and u will get a full QWERTY keypad for using both hands. Feedback is good. Handwriting recognition is actually gimmicky as u will seldom use that. Stylus comes handy in this case and it worked above average. Other Menu functions are also touch optimised and they worked with 85-90% accuracy. There is a Gesture Unlock* function.mean to say, u can assign a specific character to open an application directly and simultaneously unlock the fone.like assign'M' for example for music player. Now in locked state, press the Unlock button and write M in the screen.fone gets unlocked and opens the music menu. Another very interesting feature is that u can lock ur sms, pics, contacts etc. with own password.cool isnt it? One thing do keep in mind, u cant use normal pics as wallpapers.u have to resize it into 3 parts otherwise it wont fit.
Organiser has standard functions like Calendar, Memo, Task, World Clock, Calculator, Converter *etc and they work flawlessly. Alarm is also there. There is a Samsung browser for GPRS and it works fine. Applications include *Timer, Voice Recorder, FM Radio *etc. Radio reception is good but u cant rename the Stations.! Some games are there like Tubmling Dice, Bubble Popper, Wise Star, BrickBreaker, Millonaire etc and I dont exactly like them too much.
Multimedia: Viewing pics in such a big display is great. Galleryhave 2 views. To get full screen turn the fone on either side. But I found the accelerometer of the fone is a bit erratic. The Music Player is above average and though u wont have any cutomozable equiliser presets, the Dyna and Rock presets give good balance of bass and treble. But the supplied handsfree(without any spong to fit in the ear) is bad. Search local market and u can find 3.5 Converter cable for Samsung. In Kolkata I bought one with 60/-. 3.2 Megapixel Cam doesnt have autofocus so forget shooting macro. But daylight shooting(particularly outdoor) is very good. There are many options like White Balance, Exposure Variation, Resolution, Shutter Sound, Scene Modes, Effects etc. to play around and the touch interface works very well. Indoor shooting is average and so as Video recording as it records videos in 320X240(max) with 15 fps. I found some problem playing a few MP4 videos.I think the culprit was bitrate. Anyway, I think this fone is not that smart like my previous N95 and I cant expect it to be with this price tag. But overall the multimedia experience was pleasing.
Conclusion:Yes, u thought right.this fone is 90-95% value for money and it is a very commendable try from Samsung. Only competitor is LG Cookie and that is also a good fone in its own way. Above all, at the end of the day u can hold the'current big trend' of now.full touchscreen fone. And this technology is also not optimised till now. So considering this.my opinion is *'Recommended'.
Check your Software version with this code: #6984125#
Scrolling is also possible with the Volume Rocker keys.
For installing 3rd Party Games u will probably need a software TK Explorer. I have not tried it yet but u can search in Orkut Samsung Star community for finer details.
A photo editor is there. I know that it is not Adobe alternative.but I liked it very much coz I found numerous filters, effects to apply.
