I purchased a Samsung S3310 phone recently (26 July 2009). First-feel: It is a sleek, all-round smart looking candybar phone with a nice-to use keypad and bright large hi-res display.
First things first: I was looking for a simple, inexpensive phone which could serve the purpose of a handheld email (gmail) device, have a good camera (I had 2MP in my mind) with video recording, support at least 1000 phonebook entries and the battery should run for at least 1 full day of heavy-duty usage (approx 4-5 hrs of call + GPRS + camera) per charge.
It might be relevant to mention here that I have used mostly Nokia phones throughout my life (hence excellent usability is a basic expectation from any phone I consider buying) and have been using two Sony Ericcson W700i handsets for the last 2 years.
I did a reasonable amount of homework/research before making the purchase decision for the S3310, and was finally influenced by a close colleague who was using this phone for a while.
After purchasing, my first-cut review is as follows:
*Pros:
*1. Sleek executive looks - slim, grey silver-black combination with leather-feel back.
Good battery life (I am needing to put it on overnight charge every alternate night)
Good in-built phone memory - also supports 1000 phonebook entries with upto 19 fields (!!) per entry.
Reasonably Fast OS (keypad response is a tad slower than my earlier Sony Ericsson w700i, though)
Email - supports the Gmail app for Mobile. The inbuilt browser is neither impressive nor fast. But that’s okay for me & I am happy. I dont really need to browse the internet thru this phone, I have pretty good & fast internet access through laptop+wireless data card.
Excellent FM Radio and media player, but the in-ear-phones are not comfortable for wearing for more than an hour. I miss my Sony Ericsson HPM70 that came with my W700i. Good news is - I can use my old HPM 70 earbuds with this handsfree (3.5mm standard jack).
*Cons:
*1. The package does not contain any CD; Software like PC-Suite, USB driver is absolutely necessary for a phone, but for some strange reason the software is not supplied with this phone in the box. Moreover - the PC Suite that is compatible with this phone is not easily available for download anywhere - should be ideally available from Samsung India website ... Samsung - are you listening? (FYI - I purchased from "The Mobile Store", Dunlop Market, Kolkata with bill & warranty).
User Manual enclosed with the phone is quite inadequate and not informative enough.
Cannot work my way back to main menu while I am in a call. I am used to doing such multitasking while I am on a call on handsfree. Here I find it a challenge (Usability Issue).
Sending a phonebook contact to somebody else: If you go to phonebook >> Send Namecard via >> Message/Email/Bluetooth: choose "Message", and LO! it ends up sending an MMS !!! If you wanna send a phonebook item as a text SMS, you have to go to Compose text SMS >> Options >> Insert >> Namecard and choose the namecard you want to enter! This is lot many clicks/steps more, and cumbersome. (Usability Issue, again).
Configurable Short-Cuts soft key: This is something I am missing VERY badly. In all my phones in recent past (4-5 years), I could setup a "Go To" key with a list of shortcuts of my choice (usually they were like Inbox, Missed Calls, Received calls, Calculator, Alarm, Reminders, Tasks, Stopwatch, Profile A, Profile B, Profile C). I was pretty used to this kind of a "custom personalised menu" which helped me work efficiently with the device and cut down on menu hierarchies. To my dismay, this Phone has a 4-way button which is configurable for only 4 custom tasks. Thats it! I have been unable to find a way where I can club up my favorite menu items/actions in a single "Go To" menu. (Usability Issue, again).
In Summary - this is a competitively featured, good-to-own entry-level phone.Very good value for money if you weigh the features against the price.mBeats a Nokia or a Sony Ericsson in this parameter by approx INR 2.5-3.5K. BUT you have to get used to some usability limitations as a compromise Remember - you saved a cool bunch!
I seriously hope Samsung brings out a OS patch/upgrade that addresses these usability issues in the phone, and makes the OS a bit faster. They can easily do that, only if they want to. If that happens, this will be a killer handset, eating Nokia/ Sony Ericsson models worth INR 8-9K for breakfast!
[Edited and expanded on 01 Aug 2009]