Review of GSM/UMTS-handset Samsung S8300 Ultra Touch
Mobile-review have posted their review of the new Samsung S8300. Here is their final impression.
We were content with the S8300’s reception quality, although it wasn’t much different from other phones in this class. The ring tones volume was pretty average, and we even missed some calls when the phone was stuffed in a bag. The vibro alert was nothing to shout about either, as it hadn’t changed at all, compared the PIXON. The fact that there are two microphones housed on the S8300 makes your voice quality quite decent even when making a call on a busy street.
Among all other things, the phone offers fast contact search, Fake Call and some other welcome features.
Positioned as a state-of-the-art phone, the S8300 fits the bill perfectly – it comes packaged with an 8 MP camera, pretty decent video recording department, a touch-sensitive screen and a hardware numberpad, bundled GPS (used in Google Maps, although there are no stand-alone applications for these purposes yet, probably we’ll see some Java-based apps or Mobile Navigator down the line). But to be honest, I don’t believe the S8300’s target audience will be able to find a good use for its GPS features.
With its release slotted for April, at 400-450 Euro the S8300 won’t face any direct competition. Even though it’s not a mass-market solution, it caters for the needs and tastes of its target niche extremely well. It’ll have a cheaper counterpart that will appeal to the broader audience and will become a decent, if not ideal, choice for many. We’ll publish a comprehensive review of this mysterious phone on its release day, February 16th.
On balance, I’d like to note that the S8300 is a likable phone that will definitely get its own share of attention. On the downside, though, its plastic could have been better and the spring loaded mechanism isn’t as good as you’d expect. But at the same time, it boasts one of the market’s finest displays, a wealth of extra feats, and all this – in a very compact package. In a way, the S8300 takes the idea of the M8800 PIXON one step further, although they have omitted all features that had something to do with enhanced data input there (handwriting recognition, on-screen QWERTY-keyboard and LivePix). And given the difference between their price tags (provided that you don’t need an imaging-savvy solution), the S8300 Ultra Touch looks like a good way to go.
We were content with the S8300’s reception quality, although it wasn’t much different from other phones in this class. The ring tones volume was pretty average, and we even missed some calls when the phone was stuffed in a bag. The vibro alert was nothing to shout about either, as it hadn’t changed at all, compared the PIXON. The fact that there are two microphones housed on the S8300 makes your voice quality quite decent even when making a call on a busy street.
Among all other things, the phone offers fast contact search, Fake Call and some other welcome features.
Positioned as a state-of-the-art phone, the S8300 fits the bill perfectly – it comes packaged with an 8 MP camera, pretty decent video recording department, a touch-sensitive screen and a hardware numberpad, bundled GPS (used in Google Maps, although there are no stand-alone applications for these purposes yet, probably we’ll see some Java-based apps or Mobile Navigator down the line). But to be honest, I don’t believe the S8300’s target audience will be able to find a good use for its GPS features.
With its release slotted for April, at 400-450 Euro the S8300 won’t face any direct competition. Even though it’s not a mass-market solution, it caters for the needs and tastes of its target niche extremely well. It’ll have a cheaper counterpart that will appeal to the broader audience and will become a decent, if not ideal, choice for many. We’ll publish a comprehensive review of this mysterious phone on its release day, February 16th.
On balance, I’d like to note that the S8300 is a likable phone that will definitely get its own share of attention. On the downside, though, its plastic could have been better and the spring loaded mechanism isn’t as good as you’d expect. But at the same time, it boasts one of the market’s finest displays, a wealth of extra feats, and all this – in a very compact package. In a way, the S8300 takes the idea of the M8800 PIXON one step further, although they have omitted all features that had something to do with enhanced data input there (handwriting recognition, on-screen QWERTY-keyboard and LivePix). And given the difference between their price tags (provided that you don’t need an imaging-savvy solution), the S8300 Ultra Touch looks like a good way to go.
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