Wednesday, October 4, 2006
First Impressions of Samsung's i320 Smartphone
Posted by Mike Temporale in "THOUGHT" @ 07:30 AM
I've been less than happy with my i-mate SP5m for a while now. It's thick, it's slow, the joystick is fragile beyond belief, and it just doesn't feel that good in your hand. Certainly not as nice as the HTC Typhoon did. So I've been looking closely at all the different QWERTY smartphone devices because I wanted to increase my mobile messaging from just reading and the odd reply to more full on email access. My decision was made considerably easier during the recent Mobius Boston event as we were all given a brand new Samsung SGH-i320 Smartphone. :D
I've been using this phone for almost a week now and I have to say that Samsung did a really nice job on this phone with one exception: battery life. The size of the phone is simply incredible, and the extras that Samsung baked into the OS are really well thought out. I'll be working on a detailed review of the device over the coming days. However, if you have any questions or if there's something you want me to focus on during my review, feel free to voice them. Here's a couple quick snaps for your visual enjoyment.
Figrue 1: No, that's not dust under the SP5m screen. It's just dust on the SP5m. ;) The i320 is just about the same thickness as the Q, but it's not as wide or tall as the Q. Click on the image for a larger version (~420KB)
Figure 2: Down the right side of the i320 you have a key for accessing the Quick List menu, then a key for Voice Notes (short press) and Camera (long press). Both of these applications can easily be changed in the settings menu on the device. After that, you have a headphone port and then the Sync cable port. Click on the image for a larger version (~400KB)
Figure 3: The battery door is the hard to open. It's easily the toughest door I've seen on a Smartphone. There's little chance of it popping off and the battery falling out. Click on the image for a larger version (~420KB)
I've been using this phone for almost a week now and I have to say that Samsung did a really nice job on this phone with one exception: battery life. The size of the phone is simply incredible, and the extras that Samsung baked into the OS are really well thought out. I'll be working on a detailed review of the device over the coming days. However, if you have any questions or if there's something you want me to focus on during my review, feel free to voice them. Here's a couple quick snaps for your visual enjoyment.
Figrue 1: No, that's not dust under the SP5m screen. It's just dust on the SP5m. ;) The i320 is just about the same thickness as the Q, but it's not as wide or tall as the Q. Click on the image for a larger version (~420KB)
Figure 2: Down the right side of the i320 you have a key for accessing the Quick List menu, then a key for Voice Notes (short press) and Camera (long press). Both of these applications can easily be changed in the settings menu on the device. After that, you have a headphone port and then the Sync cable port. Click on the image for a larger version (~400KB)
Figure 3: The battery door is the hard to open. It's easily the toughest door I've seen on a Smartphone. There's little chance of it popping off and the battery falling out. Click on the image for a larger version (~420KB)
