After a big break, today I got my hands on Samsung CORBY. I know this time, I am not as fast on catching new gadgets, as I used to be, still, putting my review here.
First Impression
As a design point of view, the shape of CORBY, is not that impressive to me, rounded corner rectangle and variable thickness, it can be a style-statement for some, but I will choose to be a step away from that. Second thing is color of back-cover, Yellow is not at all makes it a trendy gadget. Instead gives it a bit cheaper feel. Three buttons, featured on the front side are call receive, call disconnect and a multi-use master button. Keypad lock and camera buttons are situated on side-panel, volume controls on the other side, pretty comfortable in operating.
UI was a real surprise to me. Touch is very sensitive, smooth in scrolling (better scrolling than WinMobile 6.0) but a bit irritating as there is no close button, everytime I minimized the things using Call Reject button. Good support for social networking, Youtube and other online facilities Office document viewer and inbuilt dictionary makes this handset good companion in daily life of general usage. smart keypad lock is promoted as promising feature but similar features are already available in existing touch-enabled phones. One-touch Zoom is a great feature offered with this handset.
Technically, its a device sporting 2.8 inch display, 265k colors and touch enabled, with 240 x 320 resolution. 50 MB of internal storage is quite adequate but Samsung promises 1000 contacts storage, may be restriction by the OS. Memory is expandable to 8GB through Trans-Flash card, 1GB card is bundled with the phone.
Connectivity is taken care by Bluetooth 2.1 (A2DP) GPRS, EDGE, WAP and USB 2.0. Signal reception is quite good, as compare to the entry level touch phones. USB cable is bundled with the phone, but the port is not the standard miniUSB port. This proprietary port might be problem for frequent travelers.
The CONS
The shape and color of back panel was a big disappointment for me, some metallic colors or shining dark combination would have catchy impact.
No 3G support is another disadvantage, though there are 3G enabled variants of this phone are on the way to market.
2 megapixel camera with fixed focus, is a main problematic thing with the phone, even similar priced nokia non-touch phone sports auto-focus camera. Samsung might have chopped off the cost on this front.
No onscreen Qwerty keyboard, No accelerometer for auto screen rotation and No smart-dial.
MicroSD slot is situated under battery cover, one can say it is an additional protection offered, but for me, its a bit complicated place to insert a small sized memory card.
Overall
Priced at mid8k Rs. its a great gadget for entry level, touch-screen fans. Looks are eye catching being quite different from the crowd. FM radio and music playback is good, connectivity for standard audio jack is great addition for audiophiles. Java and xHTML browser is with standards. 9 hours of talktime is something above average with standby time 700+ hours. All these things are packed in 103 x 56 x 12 mm case weighing 90 grams .
Samsung Corby is good gadget for touchscreen fans, who wants just a phone, with music and social networking. I will rate this as 3.8/5
Image taken from http://corby.samsungmobile.com/
First Impression
As a design point of view, the shape of CORBY, is not that impressive to me, rounded corner rectangle and variable thickness, it can be a style-statement for some, but I will choose to be a step away from that. Second thing is color of back-cover, Yellow is not at all makes it a trendy gadget. Instead gives it a bit cheaper feel. Three buttons, featured on the front side are call receive, call disconnect and a multi-use master button. Keypad lock and camera buttons are situated on side-panel, volume controls on the other side, pretty comfortable in operating.
UI was a real surprise to me. Touch is very sensitive, smooth in scrolling (better scrolling than WinMobile 6.0) but a bit irritating as there is no close button, everytime I minimized the things using Call Reject button. Good support for social networking, Youtube and other online facilities Office document viewer and inbuilt dictionary makes this handset good companion in daily life of general usage. smart keypad lock is promoted as promising feature but similar features are already available in existing touch-enabled phones. One-touch Zoom is a great feature offered with this handset.
Technically, its a device sporting 2.8 inch display, 265k colors and touch enabled, with 240 x 320 resolution. 50 MB of internal storage is quite adequate but Samsung promises 1000 contacts storage, may be restriction by the OS. Memory is expandable to 8GB through Trans-Flash card, 1GB card is bundled with the phone.Connectivity is taken care by Bluetooth 2.1 (A2DP) GPRS, EDGE, WAP and USB 2.0. Signal reception is quite good, as compare to the entry level touch phones. USB cable is bundled with the phone, but the port is not the standard miniUSB port. This proprietary port might be problem for frequent travelers.
The CONS
The shape and color of back panel was a big disappointment for me, some metallic colors or shining dark combination would have catchy impact.
No 3G support is another disadvantage, though there are 3G enabled variants of this phone are on the way to market.
2 megapixel camera with fixed focus, is a main problematic thing with the phone, even similar priced nokia non-touch phone sports auto-focus camera. Samsung might have chopped off the cost on this front.
No onscreen Qwerty keyboard, No accelerometer for auto screen rotation and No smart-dial.
MicroSD slot is situated under battery cover, one can say it is an additional protection offered, but for me, its a bit complicated place to insert a small sized memory card.
Overall
Priced at mid8k Rs. its a great gadget for entry level, touch-screen fans. Looks are eye catching being quite different from the crowd. FM radio and music playback is good, connectivity for standard audio jack is great addition for audiophiles. Java and xHTML browser is with standards. 9 hours of talktime is something above average with standby time 700+ hours. All these things are packed in 103 x 56 x 12 mm case weighing 90 grams .
Samsung Corby is good gadget for touchscreen fans, who wants just a phone, with music and social networking. I will rate this as 3.8/5
Image taken from http://corby.samsungmobile.com/
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