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Samsung S8300 Tocco Ultra Review

Phone rating:

In a nutshell: Samsung have combined two sexy form factors - the touchscreen and the slider - to create a slide phone with a full touchscreen-driven interface. When launched, the Tocco Ultra was a flagship phone with an 8 megapixel camera, class-leading OLED display, media player, GPS, Bluetooth, memory card slot and high-speed internet. It's still a good phone, although the user interface could be better, especially for texting, and it misses modern features such as Wi-Fi.

Review: March 2009. Last updated March 2011.

The S8300 Tocco Ultra is a next-generation slide phone from Samsung. Just when you thought that the slide phone could go no further, Samsung have come up with a twist: combine the slide design with a full touchscreen driven user interface. The Tocco Ultra combines the best of the Samsung Soul with the Samsung Tocco to create a new phone concept.

In its press releases, Samsung are describing the Tocco Ultra as its flagship handset for 2009. There are a number of justifications for this claim. First is the screen - its a new kind, called Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode - or AMOLED for short! Never mind how it works, the results are stunning. Its high resolution (240 x 400 pixels) ticks our box too. At 2.8 inches across, the display is large for a slide phone, but small for a touchscreen. But the combination of touchscreen with haptic (vibration) feedback plus numeric keypad does seem to work reasonably well. The Samsung Soul pioneered this principle with just the lower part of the screen having touch-sensitive controls, and by pushing this design to its logical conclusion, the Tocco Ultra has been given an even better user interface. The design offers the fun and intuitiveness of being able to drag photos and music around the screen with your finger, but without the frustration of having to use a virtual keyboard for all tasks. We know from user feedback that not everyone is happy with touchscreen phones, so the Tocco Ultra seems to offers a great alternative for these people. However, user feedback suggests that not everyone is happy with the Tocco Ultra UI - especially people who are new to Samsung, and those who text heavily.

Another feature that marks out this phone as a flagship is its 8 megapixel camera. The camera is fully equipped with smile-detection autofocus, a powerful LED flash and geo-tagging thanks to the built-in GPS receiver. Photo quality is excellent and comparable to the superb Samsung Pixon. The camera can also record video at a high VGA resolution and a respectable 30 frames per second. There's even a video editing tool built in to the phone - a feature normally only seen on smartphones. Video calling is also available.

The S8300 comes with a media player that supports all popular music formats and can play videos in DivX & XviD formats. As well as the media player, an FM radio with RDS is included. Annoyingly there's no 3.5mm audio jack, so you'll have to use the standard stereo headset supplied by Samsung or an optional Bluetooth stereo headset. The built-in memory is a bit limited too. 80 MB is just enough to store a CD's worth of music, so you'll need to upgrade this with a microSD memory card. Fortunately the Tocco Ultra supports cards up to 16GB.

We've already mentioned the geo-tagging feature for photos. The GPS can also be used with the mapping application to find your way around. Useful for pedestrians, hikers and cyclists, but don't expect to drive from Land's End to John O' Groats using this!

For connectivity, the Tocco Ultra shows its age. It has Bluetooth, USB, EDGE and 7.2 Mbps HSDPA, but is missing WiFi and a 3.5mm audio jack.

Physically, the phone is great. With a thickness of 12.7mm, it's slim but not ultraslim. Its brushed metal finish gives it the quality you'd expect from a top-of-the-range phone too. It's dated now, but still unique in its class.

Features of the Samsung S8300 include:

• 8 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom, face-detection autofocus, geo-tagging and dual LED flash
• Video camera (VGA, 30 frames/second) / Video editor / 3G video calling / DivX & XviD playback
• Display: AMOLED, 16 million colours, 400 x 240 pixels (2.8 inches) with auto rotation
• Music player (MP3, WMA, AAC, AAC+ formats)
• FM radio with RDS
• Ringtones: MP3 ringtones / 72-voice polyphonic tones
• GPS navigation with maps and geo-tagging
• Messaging: SMS, MMS, email
• Voice memo & voice mail
• Speakerphone
• Java games
• Document viewer
• Offline mode
• WAP 2.0, GPRS, EDGE, 3.5G (HSDPA 7.2 Mbps), web browser
• Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB 2.0
• Memory: 75 Mbytes plus MicroSD memory card slot (up to 16GB)
• Personal organiser functions
• Quadband GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) plus 3G Dual Band (900/2100)
• Size: 110 x 51.5 x 12.7 mm
• Weight: 118g

Samsung Tocco Ultra User Reviews

Love your mobile? Hate it? Please share your experiences to help other people choose the phone that's best for them. Please do not review this phone if you have not used it. This is a review site, not a forum, so please don't just ask questions. Please do not use swear words or offensive language, and please, no advertising!

Average rating from 108 reviews:

Reviewed by bert from nederland on 16th Apr 2012
only have problems
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by Aaron hawkins from great britain on 27th Mar 2012
The tocco ultra lite is simply the best does everything and more than you would expect of it,its easy to use and has a excellent 8 mp camera and secondary camera it plays all major formats and has loads of great apps,i had to replace mine with a nokia e72 and was in short very dissapointed, its just not the same as the samsung and falls short of the samsung by a mile.the samsungs only downfall is the internal ribbon rips firstly the speaker stops funcyioning then the camera and other functions fail however its easily repaired but fiddly to fix overall its ace!!!!!!!
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by Phill from England on 18th Feb 2012
I've never been able to get on the internet as it want's me to enter my credit card number. not a debit card, a credit card. I don't have a credit card. Also, the GPS thing when taking a picture. Is it supposed to put some kind of tag on the picture? well it doesn't. When I switch the phone on it says 'Samsung Fun Club' what is that? on a £200 phone I would expect it to be more 'grown up.'
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by shakira from kuwait on 24th Jan 2012
All i can say is its depend on the users good or not good..and only my problem is batery is too fast to low..
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by Vaibhav from India on 17th Jan 2012
Bateery Is too Poor.
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by lewis from england on 4th Jan 2012
this phone is 100% useless the touch screen is fiddly and clicks on the buttons i didn't click do not buy this phone ever and when i say ever i mean ever
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by James from Australia on 8th Dec 2011
I would advise people to ignore Vicki's review for the most part. The screen is sensitive during calls because the screen gives you access to several call functions which require the screen to be responsive. Just lock the screen if this is a problem. That is common sense. You can also answer calls while you text, so ignore that aspect of her review too. Widgets always overlap, but in this case opening new text messages is rarely disturbed by the widget menu button. This is also an inaccurate element in Vicki's review. Judging by the fact that you put your last phone in the washing machine, I can understand why your review was so uninformative. The phone is 'decent', but hardly excellent. GPS rarely works with this phone, and texting is troublesome. Punctuation marks which we commonly use take time to access which is inconvenient when sending professional / formal text messages. There are other problems to note, but do keep in mind the phone does last a long time with very few malfunctions, etc.
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by Vicki from UK on 20th Nov 2011
WARNING -------------DO NOT EVER GET THIS PHONE!!! Well were shall i begin? Phone calls - you will answer the phone and then because the screen is extra sensitive it MUTES the people your on the phone to so you have to hold the phone away from your ear so this doesnt happen. If your in the middle of texting and a call comes through dont think about answering the call because the phone wont let you. you have to MISS CALL the call and then call them back. When you get a text you cant open it first time because of this annoying wiget thing thats on the left hand side which open instead and then you cant close it because the touch screen is that rubbish it opens up one of the random rubbish widgets on the side. When you use predictive texting and write something and put a full stop there to change to a ? mark it goes back to the first word selected in predictive text. Samsung cant say its just my phone because this is the 2nd one i have had because my 1st one went in the washing machine (accident) and my insurance company send me another one. which is just as RUBBISH!!!
Rating: Reply

Reply by Andrea from UK on 13th Feb 2012
Vicky it happened to me, and now my phone is MUTE and have no idea how to make it normal again. Can you help me please?!!!!

Reviewed by Pete Tomlin from England on 2nd Sep 2009
I have to disagree with the negative reviews. I've had this phone for a few months now & I love it. I am envied by everyone as it is so stylish & sleek. Texting is no more or less tricky than any other phone, the slider is solid & sturdy, voice call quality is very good (sometimes too loud). The only criticism is with the battery life but it isn't surprising as there is so much on this phone to use the power! I definitely would recommend this phone.
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by danielle from UK on 2nd Sep 2009
Ok I got this by default because I begged my phone provider to change the handset cause my last phone kept breaking...I didnt want a touch screen but luckily it has a kep pad so thats cool... Its very pretty. Thats about it.... Try to use the internet with the touch screen? I have very small fingers but even I can't click on some of the links, when you use the slide open keypad, which is a life saver btw, its really hard to delete what you have written... I have a random widget that comes up every morning called events, anyone know how to stop that happening? My contacts are all back to front and I cant get around it so now everyone begins with "mob". Have you ever tried playing the touch screen scrabble game? Its actually impossible. It doesn't come with one of those pen things so I got one for it and no it doesnt work. And OMG heaven forbid if you want to move the cursor in a text message to edit a previous word! The phone works though, and I can use the internet as long as I am really carefull and zoom in as far as it goes to click on a selection....everything is so long winded. And no skype? no MsN? Is there anything that this phone is allowed to do? The Camera is nice though and like I said its pretty. But its PAINFULL to use.
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by Richard from England on 1st Sep 2009
Agreed with some of the below reviews. I have had this phone for 4 months and I've had enough. Going back to Nokia. Touchscreen is slow and un-responsive, battery life is very poor, camera ok. texting hard even when using keys. ANNOYING. Worst phone in my 14 year career of using them
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by Rach from UK on 31st Aug 2009
Thank goodness for Dan Searle's review further down because it is going to save me a long time typing. His review pretty much covers all my frustrations with this phone. I have been a Samsung user for years and this phone is making me think that my next phone will NOT be a Samsung. Texting is ridiculous, you have to take hideous steps to include apostrophes or maintain the word you have just selected... I won't rant on repeating what the others have said, but have got something else to add - You have to turn your phone off, remove the back cover and battery just to get your memory card out. This is completely stupid when you want to use your micro-SD apapter and have to have your phone in bits to do so. I know that you can bluetooth pictures to photo-printers but surely a slot on the side would be a step in the right direction. I absolutely agree with every negative review on here. I will stick with the phone for my 24 month contract (I had to keep this one after returning the Pixon - don't get me started on that one!) but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless you spend a lot of time concentrating solely on the task of texting or setting your alarm (SO confusing and very easy to 'set' it without it actually coming on due to frequency etc) and doing nothing else.
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by SammiAhoy from scotland on 30th Aug 2009
i love this phone. like actually! texting with the touch screen is simple. especially with predictive text on. photo quality is great. video call is good. and my tarrif is amazing haha!! i would of liked some games to come with the phone instead of having to buy them, but you can't get everything (: well done samsung!
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by l0l from lol on 27th Aug 2009
i have a samsung tocco ultra and its 1 of the best ive ever had ive paid nearly 400 pounds for it but im really happy with it l0l
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by SS from UK on 24th Aug 2009
The interface is covered by most of the other reviews on here so I'll restrict myself to the most important aspect of a mobile phone - voice call quality. Unfortunately its very poor, dropped calls are frequent, volume and clarity are far too variable and the its almost impossible for someone to hear you if the phone's slider is closed. Very disappointing after the excellent E950.
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by Dan Searle from Portsmouth, UK on 22nd Aug 2009
Yes, the Samsung Tocco Ultra S8300 is a fantastic piece of technology, great 8mp camera, great screen graphics and fidelity, easy to use touch-screen, lots of snazzy subtle enhancements in the way the applications are loaded and managed, all-in-all a really solid and sexy phone that no doubt cost a fortune for Samsung to develop. So why, as a pre-existing user of a Samsung phone, do I want to smash it with a sledgehammer? Because Samsung have made some senseless changes to some of the tried and tested basic functionality of the phone. Changes that buy you NOTHING but a whole load of heartache for existing Samsung users, changes that wholly obliterate the positive feeling you had with all its sexiness and snazziness. The list is long, but these are the lowlights; • No easy way to control the cursor in a text message, the large button at the front of the phone that you think would move the cursor just cancels the message. Placing your finger on the touch-screen to place the cursor is next to impossible to control with any level of accuracy. • This has always been a naff annoyance with Samsung phones; but when you backspace to clear a word you have to be careful not to press the button too quickly or it deletes your entire 6 page message. Conversely, when you actually want the backspace button to delete the entire entry, eg when you’re trying to add a word to the phone’s dictionary it only deletes one character for every press! • In the add word function, the software writers forgot to add the box that tells you when you’re in uppercase or lowercase, and it defaults to uppercase, which is odd as 9 out of 10 times you don’t need your (more often than not slang or swear word!) to begin with a capital letter. • The dictionary seems very limited, some very basic words are missing, words that were in the old my 3 year old samsung phone’s dictionary. Odd, and annoying. • When in predictive text you type “them” and switch it to “then” using the 0+ key, and then add an exclamation mark or full stop it reverts back to “them”. Why? My 3 year old Samsung didn’t do this, and logically nor should it of course. So you have to press the # key before you add the punctuation, BUT that then adds a space, so you have to backspace first before you add the punctuation. Complete nonsense. • When you type a word the dictionary doesn’t recognise it gives you every conceivable string it can imagine, even if your word was 3 letters, it then suggests 4 letter words, 5, 6, 7.. etc until you’ve hit the 0+ key about 50 times and then you finally get the “add word” option. If I typed a 3 letter word, guess what, I probably don’t need to see every 4 to 10 letter word alternative. • This is a minor irritation but nevertheless a completely senseless change on Samsung’s part. Whereas you used to punctuate your texts but pressing the * key, and you would get a fullstop, followed by a comma etc.. now comma is 4th in the list, why? How is this an enhancement? It’s like having to learn to ride a bike again. • A left swipe on the touch-screen enables you to shortcut the open menu option, wow, what a time saving shortcut, apart from the fact the open menu button is permanently on the front screen, so how is a swipe a shortcut versus a key select? This phone is quite heavy and solid, which is a positive aspect, but it also means it slides around in your hand a little, resulting in inadvertent swipes on the touch-screen, so the ability to right and left swipe on the screen are added functionality that are just completely unnecessary and bring more pain than they ever bring joy. I dare say some of the criticisms above are unwarranted, I dare say that if I spent a month doing searches on google I’d find the solution to some of these problems, but the point is, should I have to? Shouldn’t it be intuitive? And why when it always was intuitive, have Samsung come up with non-intuitive “enhancements”? In summary the Ultra Tocco is great piece of kit totally ruined by some daft changes to the basic and essential functions which just leave the user feeling totally frustrated. I can’t recommend this phone to anyone who is a heavy text user, which is probably half the world. Massive own goal Samsung.
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by Karen from England on 21st Aug 2009
Love the phone - took a bit of getting use to but can someone PLEASE tell me how to change my incoming text message alerts??????????????????
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by mitchell from wales on 21st Aug 2009
just bought it yesterday i LOOVE it only £35 a month !!!! 800 unlimited text
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by James from England on 19th Aug 2009
There is one word to describe this phone - AVERAGE. I have just spent £350 on it after having the old and first tocco and I am bermused and disappointed with Samsung. The first one was easy to use, responsive, lightweight, simple and effective. Almost a perfect phone, but the Ultra seems to have gone over-complex and backwards. The keyboard is poor, the touchscreen is sometimes slow and the sliding is all over the place. Also even simple things such as changing text message tones are incredibly hard to do and to navigate to; this was simple on the old tocco. Whilst impressive in some areas and to people new to the tocco, if you had the first one, you can easily highlight a catalogue of errors that werent present before in this new model.
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by Tracie from UK on 17th Aug 2009
Well l love Sumsung phones and always have, it has taken me a couple of days to get used to this one though.. In response to deleting them all when message box full, move them to phone and save them in a folder.The camera is not bad and it does take good pics in normal light. Predictive text can take some time but sending messages is really simple. The only couple of really annoying things are the bad lack of battery power which really does not last long and the fact the screen gets dirty quickly. But overall a excellent phone again..
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by Lita from UK on 15th Aug 2009
DO NOT GO NEAR THIS PHONE!!!! Horrible horrible horrible! Do Samsung designers not use mobile phones???? I cannot believe I have signed 18 months of my life away on this phone! Briefly: Slow. 8 mega pixels, but massive delay means that good photos are extremely rare. Anyway, this phone is only PC compatible, so, as a Mac user, good photos completely useless, and i am stuck with Samsung's foul array of ringtones. Even using my friends PC, I am told there isn't enough memory for a single track. Deplorable texting software, complete lack of apostrophes, no smilies, always begins without capitalisation. Have to hold during calls, or you mute your call with your ear. SO SLOW! Things always popping up - who uses 'widgets' anyway? Annoying tones. The list is endless, words do not describe how much I despise this terrible, lazily designed piece of junk.
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by Bruce from UK on 13th Aug 2009
This is the worst phone I have every owned. The touch screen is unreliable, it tones are annoying. The games - not worth having. It is very difficult to text with the phone because of the keypad, and the T9 is hopeless. You type the word, select the one you want then if you put a full stop after it changes your selected word to the original one. There are no smileys available and it is virtually impossible to get photos or video onto a computer from the phone. I will never buy a samsung again because of this phone
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by Chris from UK on 13th Aug 2009
This phone is a pile of rubbish. It's just gone wrong from the word go. Don't let 8 megapixels fool you.. when the camera works, you can see the lack of lens quality whenever you're out of normal light. Also, the thing runs too slow, you have to wait seconds at times to go on to the next screen. The internet browseris very good but i think that is the only saving grace for it. Finally, battery life on this... rediculous. Pathetic, even. Too much stuff on the phone and most of it is unnecessary. When pay day comes - new phone. (it gets 2 stars because the internet's okay i guess)
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by Lopez from UK on 12th Aug 2009
To Michael: Yes you can scroll down to the bottom of the contact list by sliding the right hand side of the screen down; it should come up as your just scrolling through letters which makes it extremely fast. Cant do the same with messages though!!
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by Lee from UK on 11th Aug 2009
All good apart from: Does anybody know how to email pictues as my phone always comes up with a message not enough memory to send and I have a 4g card that is virtually empty so plenty of memory? Not much point taking great photos if I can't send them!
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by Michael from UK on 11th Aug 2009
I love this phone, but there are a few bits that niggle at my nerves!! Firstly, can you get to the bottom of your contact list without scrolling all the way down to the bottom - same goes for messages as I have to delete my whole inbox when it's full.?! Also, I have managed to accidently put words into my predictive text dictionary and wondered if there was any way to take them out!? Last, but not least, is there a way to look at messages whilst on the phone? This one is probably the most annoying as I've had many samsung phones in the past, all with this capability, and the Tocco Ultra simply can't.
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by Carrie - Anne from England on 10th Aug 2009
Right, well i don't really do theese review things, but there's a first time for everything. I've had this phone for about 2ish months now, i was given this phone by my mums friend who got it off his contract. I don't overally think this is a great phone, but it's not as bad as some. To start with the touch screen can be irresponsive at times, causing me to be frustrated and press loads of buttons, which when, it decides to work, goes crazy. Also ive noticed after a while that my camera has started to go funny, theres streaks over the screen and im not too sure how to sort it :/ in addition the back of the phone is very scratch prone and has started to look very scabby however, on the other hand this phone has great sound quality and the keypad is great for people who cannot use the touch screen well.
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by GR from Australia on 5th Aug 2009
Thanks Dee, it's a relief to get rid of those tones. I feel pretty stupid now, it was too easy!! I have to admit, I found getting the cursor where I wanted it to be in the message difficult in the beginning but now that I'm used to it I have no problems. When I hold the screen for a couple of seconds I don't get arrows but it does display a mini scroll bar so you can just scroll up and down, like you would in the phonebook or widget, to get to the part of the message you want to be at. Then just touch the screen where you want the cursor to appear, it really does get easier. I was a bit apprehensive about the finger touch at the start as I have long nails too but its not an issue. Great Phone, Love it.
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by khy boogie from UK on 29th Jul 2009
damn, 12 year olds should be in school learning to spell rather than reviewing mobile phones! and most probably getting brain cancer at the same time. anyways just an update, headphone jack is intermittent and no apparent reason for when it works, which is most of the time, and when it doesn't sometimes removing and replacing works, some time reboot works. phone hasnt crashed on me for ages though, still looks good, great size. camera isnt as good as i expected but i have high standards, expected at least cyber shot level competitiveness... so as an mp3 player it's great, replaced my 16gb nano but not so god if headphone jack not working... texting and calls all ok, websites a litle annoying to use but hardly use anyways, using opera browser. amaze was good for gps at first but now everytiem it wants to update to new version and tells me i was in westminster when i was in epping...
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by danny hill from walsall on 23rd Jul 2009
this is the most crabiste phone ever. it is to complecated the only thing best on the phone is the look.this is to comlecated for young and old people. i am 12 years old and i cannot work how to use it. iv hade 10 and they have all broken down between 1 week and 2 weeks. they are so easy to get scretches it is impossible to not get a scretch with in the first minunet. the best thing is not the camera the clock even that gets wrong some times. so i would recomise to not buy this phone. i would buy the sony ericsson w850i they are the best phones ever. and the problem with the samsung tocco ultra is the sound is rubbish and you cant hear your self in a busy area.
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by Dee from Australia on 17th Jul 2009
I got this phone because it didn't have a QWERTY pad, and more so because it has an actualy keypad. The camera is great, have used it a few times, but there are quite a few things that annoy me about the phone, so much so that I'm thinking of buying a different one - it lags, messaging can be really annoying...Tocco - how do you get those arrows to come up? Tried doing what you said and it didn't work. Ultimately, that has to be the most annoying thing - getting the cursor where you want it without navigational keys! GR, when you are on your main screen (widget page), if you press the volume button on the left side, volume and vibration options come up so you can mute them without having to change the profile to silent. Battery life can be an issue - depends what youu se it for. Basic phone use, I've gone 4 days without having to charge.
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by Tocco from Australia on 16th Jul 2009
Read some old reviews, and I have to disagree. The phone's all good, it's just the noobs who are complaining about it. If people wanted QWERTY keyboard supported, then they should have checked the specs + there are ways you can move the cursor for the text, by holding on the screen for a second or two, which will bring up arrows. And there IS digital zoom on camera, you can zoom in and out with the volume control buttons. But I have to admit the battery life is extremely short and the CPU is slow for its features.
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by jagat patel from india on 15th Jul 2009
its amazing.
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by AC from WALES on 15th Jul 2009
i was deciding between the tocco ultra and the pixon so went to the phone shop to try them out. im a woman so have longish nails, and the sales person told me only certain interfaces work with the corner of my nail ( like a stick ) whereas others have to have a finger touch ( for warmth ) the pixon works with nails whereas the tocco ultra doesnt, so this was important to me, and probably alot of other woman? he said the pixon works with nails as it has an interface beginning with S, syberian? if anyone knows anything about this ( or what its called ) can you let me know and if any other phones have this? thanks
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by GR from Australia on 15th Jul 2009
PLEASE HELP!!! I absolutely LOVE the phone but I can't turn the extremely annoying keypad tones off without putting the phone on silent. The only two options I have in the normal profile are "TouchWiz" or "Beep". Would really appreciate any info on this, have seen from some of the reviews below that people have gotten around this problem so I hope its fixable :)
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by Julz Angell from UK on 13th Jul 2009
I have just got this phone and I'm just about to send it back! The operating system is very buggy: Principally, there isn't enough gain on the bluetooth transmitter to give reasonable volume on a couple of different headsets...Vital for my use. The screen only responds to finger taps (it won't acknowledge taps from a wooden stick or a ballpoint) and it is very hard to get the corrrect key. Then there is the issue with GPS...It doesn't work at all (on Vodafone, at any rate). Finally the picture display has issues in resizing pictures...Probably OK if you use the on board camera, but I tried to load my own picture and it distorted the picture to expand to full screen, rather than give the option to resize or keep the original format. Additionally there is no way of changing the screensaver...it cycles through ALL the pictures on the phone (not card). Having said all that, the phone itself works OK...You have to aim the ear-speaker directly at your ear or it is hard to hear the other party, but the calls are clear and the reception is good. The finish and build quality are excellent, but the user manual is appallingly poor. When Samsung remove the bugs in the software, this will be an excellent phone, assuming all the other functions work as promised and the quality is displayed by longevity. Until then the phone isn't really a good buy in my opinion.
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by Steve BUdd from United kingdom on 12th Jul 2009
Buy it. I did. Loved the look and Samsung are just getting better and better. As for small niggles...I personally havent got any. As for the battery..if you charge it correctly from new and discharge properly I havent had any issues. Best phone Ive ever had. Might buy the company ! Then again...maybe not !
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by Noah from UK on 30th Jun 2009
This is an excellent phone. The quality of the 8MP camera is awesome. Obviously it's not going to replace an SLR, but, it's a perfectly adequate replacement for a point and shoot. I took it on holiday and it was reliable and did a superb job! I think you should go for it if you take many photos. I confess though, I don't text alot with it, I use my work supplied Blackberry for that ;) For everything else it's fine including internet once opera mini is downloaded! It's also very stylish and well built. Anyone remember the Nokia 8310? I don't know why this phone reminds me of it in some ways. Obviously the technology the tocco ultra packs is years ahead, but what is the alternative for a stylish high spec phone with top features ,and, a premium feel to it?!
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by mahdi from uk on 15th Jun 2009
fantastic phone has the greatest features if only the battery could last long enough for me to use them samsung really need to create an extended battery
Rating: Reply

Reviewed by doddy from uk on 14th Jun 2009
just to let you know...any problems with the day on the date being wrong on your widget, you need to change the settings so that the start of your week in the calender is on a sunday instead of a monday (it could be the other way round...I cant remember now!!) but it works!!x
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Reviewed by Kate from UK on 14th Jun 2009
I got this phone a couple of months ago, and I LOVE it! The camera is amazing, so its definitely a phone to consider if you're into taking photos. The music player is also great, and the speaker seems surprisingly loud compared to my previous, Sony Ericsson phone. I text all the time, so when I read reviews before I got this phone, I was worried that the texting would be difficult, but I really don't find it a problem, and personally I prefer to text using the touch screen, but I've tried the keyboard that that is also easy to use. A lot of people have complained that it is difficult if you make a mistake whilst texting, but you simply press next to the mistake, and you can edit it, again I don't find this hard to do. I also like the phone browser, also it's slow sometimes, I don't use it often enough to find this a bad thing, but maybe if you surf the internet often this might not be the best choice of phone. I love this phone, so if you're thinking of getting it, BUY IT NOWW :)
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Reviewed by Joanna from Warwickshire on 13th Jun 2009
Its is a sexy looking fone, thats for sure...but I wish I had taken your professional views about the txting more seriously....Im a big one for sending text msgs, so ease of texting is really important to me! This new phone is rubbish and awkward compared to my Sony Erricson before this. If you make a mistake..the only way to fix it is to keep tapping the backspace key which is on the screen, and if you accidently hold it for too long, you lose the whole msg. Also, if you find you've made a mistake in the msg earlier, the only way to go back and fix it is to tap the touchscreen in exactly the right place next to the word you want to correct, but it is not easy to make the cursor fall on the right position. I find it doesn't fit so nicely in my hand either...very long and hurts my thumb to txt too much. Lastly, I like smileys in txts..and they are not so easy to just slip in while writing, you have to search for them. There are a lot of other amazming features on this phone... but for txting, it's not up to standard!
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Reviewed by Cool from Belfast on 6th Jun 2009
I got this phone 2 days ago and i love it. Its excellant for texting much faster than my previous SE w910i . I would recommend this phone to anyone. the camera is amazing better than any other 8mp i have seen. The phone overall for a person that has never used a touch screen handset before will find it quite hard to use, but give the phone a chance and im sure ul fall in love with it.
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Reviewed by sophia brunetti from leicester, u.k on 31st May 2009
Everyone's so cynical about this phonee! i loveee it, n cant stop touching the gorgeouss screen.. its addictive! haha.. the bright colours and little genius extras make this phone something worth having!.. lovee the music player, photo browswer, CAMERA! .. yeahh the texting is a littlee sloww but SO what! you get used to it after a whilee.. nothing to go mad about :( people just lovee to hate! i say hats off to samsung for producing an amazing phone.
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Reviewed by Ryan from Wales on 29th May 2009
Had nothing but trouble from SE and Nokia over the years Samsung are the only Brand that have served me well i got the ultra after my c905 broke after 3 months the ultra beats it in every way the phone of the year
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Reviewed by lol from england on 29th May 2009
this phone has been a really good phone so far but could anyone tell me how to set up the top 3 widget as i am haveing trouble setting it up ? .
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Reviewed by BrianLara from India on 28th May 2009
Worth mobile for me. Simply amazing . previously i used the SE W910i model. The samsung model S8300 is really great. Amazing. I would recomend people to buy it.
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Reviewed by Matt from uk on 26th May 2009
Had it for 5 days and its going back. If you have ever used an Ipod touch or Iphone then you will hate the poor quality touch screen. Text messaging is made hard by the lack of precision in the touch screen if you need to go back and there is no way of writing things with apostrophes without manual input. The camera is 8megapixles but the photos are of a poorer quality than my previous 5m Sony. Bluetooth works between phones but not phones and Macs. There is no firmware update service offered by samsung so you are stuck with the version that was factory installed. Nice looking but a pig to use. Get it and you'll regret it in a months time when the looks wear off.
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Reviewed by Thomas Hickman from birminham on 25th May 2009
I adore this phone. I have had it for about 3 weeks now! It is so fast,the screen is so bright and colourful. i have had one other touch-pad phone and nuthing compares to this phone. it is simplying outstanding. i have only one problem the battery life not as good as some other phone but it will do! And i must say i love the camera is it well and truely amazing the colours the flash the effects, well i say so much better then my 9.1mp camera! and since having this phone i have found out how to work all the apps on it. I LOVE THIS PHONE so much better then any other phone i have had before! if any one asked my oppinion i would tell them to get this phone :)
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Reviewed by dympna doherty from Ireland on 24th May 2009
Upgraded to tocco ultra and after a week had it replaced with a new one, could not be heard when i made calls, got new one which kept dropping calls and would not send or receive mms. In repair shop now for software replacement. A disaster not to be recommended
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Reviewed by RG from UK on 19th May 2009
I just upgraded to this phone for a few weeks and I think it is great. When I was reading some reviews before I upgraded there were a few quirks that people kept mentioning so Ill address these. 1) no delete key while texting using the kepad - although there is no actual delete key there is a delete button on screen and its really not that much trouble to use this even if you are a speed texter 2) some find the touch screen to be inaccurate - this is the first time I have bought a touchscreen phone but I think it is very responsive and just after a few days all the presses were accurate and no problem 3) some complained that they had to go through too many screens to get to write a message. Thats where the widgets come in. You can put a messaging widget on the home screen and hey presto..!just one press and your ready to write a text. 4) some more positives - the phone looks great and feels sturdy - the sliding mechanism is nice and smooth - the screen is nice and bright - the camera is good (although havent done a full test drive yet so all in all its a great phone that I am really enjoying using by the way to joanne if you are writing with the onscreen keypad its labelled and if you are writing with the normal keypad I think its the "0" key
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Reviewed by joanne from uk on 10th May 2009
love the phone but having difficulty with predictive text. if the word i write doesnt display, the manual says press the "Aa" key to select an alternate word. - can someone please tell me where this Aa key is - i cannot for the life of me find it! please help.
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Reviewed by Richard A from England on 9th May 2009
Got the Tocco ultra looks good and operates ok but major problem you cannot get it pair up with Car bluetooth I tried on my BMW wont work and the battery they say 4 hours more like 2 & half hours on normal everyday use just sent it back swopping it for Nokia N85 at least I know the bluetooth works.
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Reviewed by Mohammad Golzada from UK on 6th May 2009
Got the phone 1 month ago on upgrade. good all rounder, nice wieght and feel. Not the top of the range handset i expected. Touch screen can be a bit tempremental at times. only 2 issues i have had is the phone has frozen a few times on a call and the second issue was a few times during a conversation i get really bad feedback. oh yes i nearly forgot - dont get the RED one if your a guy as its definately rasberry pink.
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Reviewed by SteveD from England on 3rd May 2009
I’ve given the phone a good testing and as a touchscreen virgin I was pleasantly suprised with it’s ease of use. It’s poinless for the games unless you have small fingers,(have fun with scrabble, you’ll fail to lay any tiles down with the drag and drop feature) but games with phones are pointless anyway. Getting used to texting without punctuation is a must with the T9 as it does not know what an apostrophy is (i’ve, it’s, weren’t, should’ve) you have no chance in predictive. It lacks a curser button where the back button is to edit texts because again you need nimble fingers for exact placement of curser. Overall it is an excellent phone and I will be keeping mine beyond the trial as the pros outway the cons by a mile but if your text and game mad just don’t bother.
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Reviewed by Paul from UK on 1st May 2009
I had the phone for a week but in the end it just wasn’t what I wanted and so I have now returned it for a Nokia 5800 that I am now delighted with. The Tocco is a lovely looking phone and the vibrancy of the on screen colours are second to none in the mobile phone market and if I am honest you will either love the phone and put up with its little quirks or like me realise if you are tied to a contract the last thing you need is a phone you are not that enamoured with. I disliked the way nothing could be done in a straightforward manor as in messaging where you don’t go straight in to create or read but instead go through a couple more touch screen moves than really should be necessary. The phone lacking Wi Fi capabilities also helped me to decide this wasn’t for me as although I knew it lacked this function I thought other Samsung options would come to the fore and save the day, they did not and for me much more could have been achieved with this model as it sadly lacks many apps that come as standard with a much cheaper Nokia 5800. I don’t hate the Samsung Tocco Ultra it just wasn’t for me and I certainly wouldn’t dissuade anyone from buying it I just feel the Nokia 5800 is more straightforward and everything is where you would expect to find it but Samsung are definitely on the right lines and I am sure I will find a model to prise me from Nokia's grasp in the future, just not today that’s all.
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Reviewed by Annoyed In Wales! from Uk on 30th Apr 2009
Ok, felt obliged to write something on here, as some of the silly stupid, childish reports nearly made me NOT purchase this phone! First, see through the 'children’s' ratings on here, and concentrate on the grownups...you'll be more than pleased with this phone! It's great looking, great to txt on, great camera, easiest user interface I’ve been on. I come from the Viewty onto this, after having the LG for nearly 2 years, and was worried I’d miss it, NO, the Samsung is more than capable of replacing that handset, and i have to say, if you are thinking about it, DO IT, DO IT...plough on through it's quirkiness, bearing in mind, every phone has them, and you will Love it!
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Reviewed by ben from uk on 23rd Apr 2009
ok, normally i'd never go for a phone straight off of the assembly line. my past phones (all sony ericcson cameraphones) were all out for a while, had good reviews and firmware updates before i decided to go for them. first of all the looks. quite simply it's one of the best looking phones out there - competing with several of the LG fashion ones. the front is dark burnished metal with a lovely solid feel and the back is plastic to reduce weight. running up the sides of the front is a flash of colour (in my case red) and when you slide the phone out it reveals a block of the same on the keypad and back where the camera is. the screen is simply beautiful; larger than an ordinary phone, but smaller than a purely touch one, full of bright and vivid colours. the features are pretty amazing too. i'm a texter, but wanted something modern that can play music and videos. it has an impressive 8mp camera (when you get above 10mp the human eye can't tell the difference in a normal sized photo). furthermore there is DivX compatibility and a 1gb expansion card that can be upgraded to 16 gb at the moment and possibly 32gb in the future. there is no wifi which is a downside, and browsing on the internet is difficult due to the smaller screen. Usability. disappointingly the handset's microphone is poor; the listener can't hear anything mumbled. there is no backspace on the physical keypad, and this combined with a small screen with no joypad means that editing texts is difficult. the screen itself can be a bit tricky as well, finger presses have to be definite and accurate, and even then it may not register, or select the wrong this which is annoying (maybe that's why they put a back key where a direction pad normally goes?). some people get the widgets, others don't - personally i find them very useful and only wish they'd bring a lot more out. the menus are definitely not intuitive. to open up a new text means four button presses which may sound pathetic to complain about, but what it actually means is that you have to go through four different menus to simply start writing a text. this is similar for many other simple actions like the alarm, which makes you wonder who created the menu and how much thought they put into it. hopefully a firmware update will make the touchscreen more accurate and rearrange the menu to make it better. for one of the first attempts at a dual touchscreen and keypad it's a very good combination, however with time i'd expect them to improve upon the interaction and usability of the two considerably. Pro: features - 8mp camera, divx compatibility. touchscreen AND keypad. simply gorgeous screen. looks brilliant. Cons: touchscreen not perfect (maybe will improve with firmware). menus are difficult. don't make mistakes while texting. quiet microphone. in conclusion this is a gorgeous phone that impresses everyone that's seen it. the features are impressive - it's nothing short of a multimedia Swiss army knife. day to day use is a bit tricky, and can be a chore at times but hopefully with a few updates and a few more widgets then it can be sorted.
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Reviewed by VN from UK on 21st Apr 2009
I bought this phone on Wednesday last week. I have had the SE K750 for several years, I love it but it is getting battered and l was well overdue an upgrade. I wanted music (at least 2gb) radio, camera +3mg, autofocus and flash and protected camera lens, alarm and snooze button, reliable, easy to use. I do not use the internet or play games or video call and l have a sat nav, no special rings/person or voice dial so those are not tried, looked for or needed. My report is based on what l have used. After 7 months looking l think l may at last have a phone l am happy with. TEXTING: The keys are easy to press I have no trouble with key size sorry it must be others that have big fingers. I am a peck and look texter though and would rather phone. Grammar is not a worry, nor deleting, if l don’t notice the spelling mistake at the time it goes. I haven’t tried the predictive although l usually use that. I am trying to learn the ‘proper’ way of texting. I’m told it is easier. Getting unread texts up or to send new ones is easy so not sure what people complain over with lots of pushes, but then l am used to old technology. PLUS POINTS and TIPS: Camera is good. I took a photo of a back lit x-ray and got an excellent image, day, night, outdoor and indoor shots are very good. I do not use zoom it causes camera wobble so lack of it isn't a problem for me. Sliding the widgets back slide your fingers off the edge off the phone when you put them back, if you just flick the widgets on they won’t go ‘home’. I like the 3 top numbers dialled widget but l can not have home and hubs number on his profile as the widget always rings the wrong number, so for the 3 favourites only put one phone number/name. I like being able to group numbers and to make new groups. Build feels good and solid and the camera lens is protected. Excellent screen and sound quality with or without headset, I only ever have one earpiece in at a time, so I’m aware of what goes on round me. UNSURE POINTS or NEGATIVE POINTS: I can hear others but sometimes they can not hear me. It may have been where l was in the building, middle of a huge industrial unit, surrounded by electrical items. Be wary of the flash, you only need it for distance l got a blue photo tint when l tried it close to a subject. I want to take internet widgets off shortcut bar as l do not use internet but it won’t let me. Sometimes it can be slow to connect or the wrong thing comes up but it may just be me not used to touch screens. I know others have had this but it is not really a major problem and l am sure it must happen on all touch screens. People say it switches off, but looking at the power switch bet it is that. It is the call off button and easy to push. On my K750 it is on the top in a recessed hole and very difficult to push. Phone lock is quick push to set and longer hold to turn on. I wish it had a better phone safe lock though as a slide also unlocks it if you don’t use the side unlock. I am told that all slides are the same. K750 had 2 buttons to push, it was un-lockable otherwise. I bought the in car universal charger and Samsung cable, it does not fit the phone. I am told that l need the Nokia Macro charger, do not get confused with the Nokia Micro, double check in the shop for fitting, waiting for mine to be delivered. My worst bug over it is what so many have reported; I am disappointed with the battery life. As a test l used it for about 3 hours music and radio, took 2 photos sent 2 texts and took 3 short phone calls, about 2mins each. And the battery was down to one bar. I had made a point of seeing it was full charged the night before ready for a hard days test. Apparently this is normal as they only have 5hrs talk time. Any other point’s l notice as l get used to it l will update but for now l have to say l am happy with it. If l can actually bear to part with K750 l have a few days left to decide.
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Reviewed by Joe O'Brien from UK on 21st Apr 2009
....haven't actually got the phone yet !! - it is arriving by post tomorrow from O2. I'm really looking forward to having a play with it. I had a choice between the Samsung tocco, Pixon, Soul, Nokia 5800, LG Viewty and Renoir. I stumped for the tocco ultra as I wanted the touchscreen features but still wanted the slidy phone bit. I also wanted a good camera with flash, sturdy design, an accelerometer for rotating images and 3G for google maps. I've read some of the reviews below and on other sites and a lot of the negative comments about this phone and all samsungs seem to stem from the samsung user interface which is pretty common (i have a D900i). Anyone moving from Sony or Nokia to a Samsung will immediately disapprove of the unnecessary steps required when texting. I'm afraid it takes some getting used to. But given that my trusty D900i is still going after 3 years even after being dropped on concrete a dozen times, and slobbered on by my 1 year old , I had to go for samsung again. Can I say that once it arrives, the 1st thing I will do is READ THE MANUAL! There are so many hidden features and tips in samsungs - it pays to read the manual. One chap who reviewed his samsung was having a go at the inability for it to text brackets character such as ( ) {}. These are obtained after holding down * for 1 second. Joe
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Reviewed by Tique from England on 21st Apr 2009
rebelrickb - I have the phone on vodafone and also have the issue with the date on the widget altho in my case it was a day ahead. I have noticed once or twice that when using the alarm - and setting it to only go off on weekdays, it gets the day wrong and the alarm doesn't go off even if the day and date in the Time and Date settings is correct - not sure if this is because the alarm is linked to the widget. Regarding the battery life - it does get marginally better after a few charges but yes it does go down quickly. Does anyone know if there are any firmware updates for the phone yet?
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Reviewed by Nige from GB on 21st Apr 2009
Samsung tocco ultra one month old now and suffered two squech noise problems. One wash during bad weather so though might be related, but this week now the same, during good weather. the speaker makes a loud squech noise for 10+ seconds. Any one else had this issue, or know of a problem. Think I will contact Vodafone.
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Reviewed by Sophia from uk on 20th Apr 2009
Really pleased!
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Reviewed by Charlotte from England on 20th Apr 2009
Iv had this phone a few days now and im really impressed. I was slightly concerned about getting this phone as my fingers aren't fat but there certainly not thin but I find the touchscreen really easy to use, iv even been texting using the touchscreen rather than the keypad. In the box I got a cable for my computer and a memory card which is good as with my last phone I had to go out and buy both of these seperately. Overall i'm really happy :)
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Reviewed by Gloria Leicester Fan from UK on 19th Apr 2009
average - could be so much better, I can't use the touch screen for the life of me, every time i get a message I have to spend 2 minuets trying to press the read button (on screen). Widget is annoying and get in my way. Positive notes: camera is good, internet is good Texting is a nightmare. Don't get a text package with this phone as you won't use it. average rating. I am going to keep hold of it for a while - I think, maybe.
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Reviewed by Sarni from UK on 19th Apr 2009
After having the phone for 2 days - it was enough to convince me that I didnt want it for another 18 months. The touch screen was so slow to respond, if I got a text message the Widget would pop out instead - believe me, Ive got slim finger tips! otherwise I could be tapping on the screen and just *nothing* would happen. It made me appreciate my previous Viewty screen so much more! I was unable to create an 'event' for the alarm to go off every fortnight (in calendar) - the only choice I had was daily, weekly, monthly or annually - there was NO custom choice :(, another grind was that everytime I got a text message it would save to my sim card and I would have to manually put it on the phone memory - why cant they have a setting to choice to do this for example you are given a choice to save to sim or phone with new phone numbers?? Found it difficult to backspace or find the underscore while browsing but realised if you double tapped (eventually) you were able to enter them in a new menu, another grind is why put all the sound settings into different menus/drop down boxes? If I enter Normal profile settings I want to be able to list all my incoming calls, alert text, keypad tones in ONE list not by pressing other boxes/menus. Didnt like that you cant able to 'insert a word' you have to start putting the characters in and then press the 0 Key then after displaying Samsungs alternative you can *then* Add a word....EVERYTHING IS SO LONG WINDED! What I would say positive is the camera takes good pictures...and thats it. Thank goodness the keypad light went so quickly - I have now returned the item and have ordered a completely different phone.
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Reviewed by Sandra from UK on 18th Apr 2009
Had this phone 2 days and I absolutely hate it. Its such a lovely looking phone, I like the camera, widget good idea.....and thats it. After discovering how to stop the keypad annoying tone, my next problem was the actual touch screen. I had a LG Viewty before and it was perfect and responsive but this phone, you keep tapping, pressing etc to select something and it gets the item below or above or 90% does nothing. What also annoyed me when browsing I couldnt use the underscore, the normal ?,.@+- etc were all easy except for the underscore which is needed with my email address. I also wanted to enter a re-occuring note every fortnight in my calender but could only do every day, week, month,year etc - no option to set up as custom. I wanted to luv it but the sound when talking to someone on the phone sounded like I had them on speakerphone - it was all tinny with all their background noise going on. I set up two email accounts and one downloaded all my emails on the server (grr!) and the other downloaded just my new emails. Everything just seems to be long winded. Why cant they put in the profile settings the keypad tones, text message tones and the ring tone - why put it all in different drop boxes?? The final nail in the coffin was the keypad lights not working....Ive sent it back and have changed phones. Final verdict: if you want a phone just to call and not to text then this is the phone for you! If you want to text, browse the internet, want quick response then dont get this one!
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Reviewed by rebelrickb from england on 17th Apr 2009
is it just my tocco ultra on o2 or i`m I the only one to notice that the date widget on the main screen is a day behind. For example its saying thursday 17 apr 2009 when infact its friday 17 apr 2009. And also only had 3 days and already had to charge it twice as its gone completely flat. And ive not rang out at all only texted and played around with it for a little while.
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Reviewed by Warren Morris from Wales on 17th Apr 2009
This phone has it all its definately as good as samsung say its a stunning phone with loads of fab extras by far the best phone i have ever had give it a whirl
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Reviewed by Steven from UK on 17th Apr 2009
I don't believe it. They produce an excellent battery friendly energy efficient LED screen, so what do they do? they fit a lower quality (800mah) battery!! Battery life is therefore horrendous, when it could have been very good had they stuck to an average quality (1000mah) battery.
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Reviewed by tom from UK on 17th Apr 2009
ive just ended my 18 long months contract with my motorola razr2 v9 and upgraded to this beauty for £60 on a £30 contract with three any ways i have owned so many phones in the past such as samsung soul sonyericsson c902 and samsung tocco and belive me there are alot more but i was a little bit weary of [ purchaseing this handset as i didnt really like the tocco i thaught the menus were slugish and just unadaptable but with this beauty its so streamlined it can be a bit slugish in places like in contacts and settings menu but i think a firmware update will sort this out i love the camera i have never seen photos look so good well except on the sony ericsson c905 but this is in a diffrent leuge to that thats another story any ways the screen on this baby is indescribable its like HD or something any ways go buy one its worth every penny
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Reviewed by su from uk on 16th Apr 2009
I love it so far and got it free last week on a 24 month contract at 25 quid a month with unlimited landline and 1000 txts and 600 mins fab 10 quid cheaper than my previous tariff and with the same company. Look around and threaten to leave ur existing. Saying that how do you change the message alert??
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Reviewed by Georgina "Pips" A from UK on 16th Apr 2009
People are making out this phone is terrible when it really isn't. Texting is not that difficult. YES you must be aware of the fact that there is no back space on the keypad and only on screen however dont make mistakes you silly billy it will be a lot easier. NO the keypad is not too small you just have extremely large fingers. The phone can act unresponsive at times but this is due to the oversensitive screen. The music which comes out of the phone is quite however the c905 has better sound quality. The phone all in all is a nice little machine, it's battery life is ok could with improving. the c905 is this phones many competitor but there are many glitches with the phone and there is sometimes a problem with the software. However, if you are going to buy a phone be aware that there are always going to be glitches. This is the first touch screen, and keypad phone that has an 8 megapixel camera (which is also good quality may i add).... For a 16 year old girl i think that the review i wrote is pretty good lol
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Reviewed by Adam from UK on 16th Apr 2009
If you are looking to buy or upgrade to this phone, please be aware that yes it is a nice looking hand set, and it does have a superior camera, But the User interface is not as friendly or intuitive as one would like, at the current stage of play 16/04/09 there are very few additional Widgets available for download, The phones browser speed is nippy. and the screen is sensitive and becomes easier to use over time. All in all this phone is like Driving : slow to start with as you learn : but with practice comes speed and a honed technique.
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Reviewed by Kirsty from UK on 15th Apr 2009
Texting, as everyone else has noted, is the biggest problem. It's not a phone-specific problem though, all Samsungs have the same format which just is not user-friendly. If you're used to Samsungs you'll no doubt be fine but Sony Ericssons are so much better and easier to use (I wanted to upgrade to the SE C905 but I couldn't ignore it's shocking reviews!) I like the slide out keypad (not got on brilliantly with the touch-screen one, seems faffy) as it's a good size. The widgets I found a little strange at first but after some instore advice I've got the hang of it. The touch screen is easy to use and you can scroll up or down using the volume key on the side which is useful (although easy to hit accidently whilst texting - yet another gripe!) using the phone outside is difficult as you can barely see anything on the screen (easily resolved by putting your hand over the phone but then you look very secretive ...) the lack of a zoom function on the camera feels like a bit of an oversight given how good it is (my old SE 902 had that!). So yeah it's not perfect but then no phone is these days. I haven't tried to 101 functions of music, radio, internet, etc etc as I mainly use my phone for pictures, texts and calls so I can't comment on these. I am happy with my phone although it has taken me a while to get used to it. Battery life is good and it seems fairly durable (having already hit the floor at speed on two occasions!) It's very stylish and feels well made (no problems yet, let's hope I haven't jinxed it!)
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Reviewed by Tony from UK on 15th Apr 2009
Very good looking quality feeling phone. Excellent camera. Thats where the good points end. Not the easiest to text on make a mistake good luck ! It has already been mentioned no scroll back what a nightmare ! Shame really because I really wanted to keep it and gave it every chance but now the phone is boxed up ready for collection.
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Reviewed by martin from england on 14th Apr 2009
Some of these other reviewers have summed it up. If you text at all don't bother getting this phone. If you are used to nokia on SE then you will hate it. Not being able to scroll back through your text to edit words is a massive draw back. You can tap on the part of the text you wish to edit but good luck with that! Also viewing received texts is a hassle as you need to tap a number of times on the view button before it opens. Everything else about the phone is pretty good but if they had only added a qwerty keypad like on older versions or added a joystick or something similar instead of the back button it would be fine.
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Reviewed by arni from england on 13th Apr 2009
quality styling and build, brilliant combination of touch and keypad with a super camera. all round very very decent phone, shame about thee battery though could have done much better....
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Reviewed by sebulon from namibia on 12th Apr 2009
phone too ligth,looks just too girly
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Reviewed by sarah from England on 12th Apr 2009
I really love the tocco ultra , i've only had it for 1 week and it's doing a great job and is really easy to use!! xx
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Reviewed by Donna Meikle from Scotland on 10th Apr 2009
Got this phone on the release date as an upgrade to the Omnia. First impressions was tht is looked great, very slim but txting is a nightmare!! U cant get a comma whilst txting with the keypad! And the keypad is too small to begin with! I've send the phone back and I'm currently looking for an alternative. One thing I did like was the option to change the font.
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Reviewed by Han from uk on 9th Apr 2009
Just got this phone today as a free vodafone upgrade. I love it! I did my research before choosing and this was the one I felt would stay up-to-date the most, especially on an 18 month contract. It’s not a business phone, but more for those who like gadgets and a fashionable phone. After wanting something that resembled the technology of an iphone, I would say this is pretty close, if not better because it isn’t as bulky. The phone is light and thin but still has a large screen. The phone is stylish in black and red. The display is really clear and it has loads of gadgets to play on. I really like the widget feature but it also has fm radio, mp3 player, fast internet, gps etc! I previously had a Sony Ericsson K800i, so compared with that it is definitely more modern! I’m loving the new technology! It takes a bit of getting used to if you've never owned a touch screen before, which is why I like the fact it also has a key pad. This is useful for texting if you find touch screen a nuisance. It is easy to use with the computer. I just plugged it in via usb and moved music onto it, very simple. In the box it came with 1gb memory, memory adapter, charger, usb cable, head phones and hands free kit. The instructions aren’t as clear as I’d like them to be but it’s more a case of getting used to it. After playing on it for a while I soon found my way around. The 8 mega pixel camera is excellent! You don’t have to lug your digital camera around on nights out etc coz it’s nearly the same quality! It’s a very neat, fashioable and modern phone and I definitely recommend it!
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Reviewed by charlie from uk on 9th Apr 2009
Just a great phone. Call quality is outstanding, look and feel of phone is great. I was very dissapointed with the built in browser, but 2 clicks and opera mini is installed and looks and works like a charm. I find texting using the touch screen to be simple and straightforward. Camera is superb. I appreciate megapixels aren't everything, but the photos I've taken are nearly on a par with my nikon slr. It's amazing how upset people get about a few texting quirks. :(
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Reviewed by luke from Nothern Ireland on 8th Apr 2009
the phone is rubish
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Reviewed by adam from uk on 7th Apr 2009
I love it having had sony ericssons for about my last 5 fones i started with a t610 or something then had the chunky one that rotates :P so i was abit weary about getting a samsung being 17 i love it had it 3 hours quick net good camera decent music ok it is a bit of a pain to do some things but its good none the less only annoying thing is my fonebook is screwed :P
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Reviewed by Gary from UK on 7th Apr 2009
Indeed, if you are an old-skool maverick and use mobiles for anything as querky as 'calling people', ‘texting’ or 'browsing the web' all are very hard work: Backspacing - it takes 4/5 attempts to get the curser to land where you want (having to use the touchscreen), especially if you need it to land in-between letters. So it’s actually quicker to slog through deleting a whole word and write it again. Same is true if you just need to change the capitalisation of a word – whereas other handsets allow you to do this scrolling through cap’s options on an existing word - not even having to replace that letter. As for the predictive text functions, I’ve found my way around them now… OMG is this normal for Samsung!? The custom dictionary has really limited punctuation range: not including ‘ or _ for example. This is a pain for many things like on-line form filling. On my old SE K800i I’d put my email address in the dictionary and would write (using predictive): [G] [A] [R] [Y] (predictive list would pop up) [button down] (to pick my email address from the predictive list) [o] to select That’s just 6 keystrokes on the same keypad. With this handset I have do the following each and every time: [G] [A] [R] [Y] [@] to access punctuation [_] [T] to go back to text [X] [X] [X] [X] [X] [O] to scroll through predictive [@] to access punctuation [_] [T] to go back to text [X] [X] [X] [X] [X] [X] [X] [X] [X] [@] to access punctuation [@] [T] to go back to text [Y] [A] [H] [O] [O] [O] to scroll through predictive [@] to access punctuation [.] [T] to go back to text [C] [O] [@] to access punctuation [.] [T] to go back to text [U] [K] That's an eye-bleeding, finger-numbing, whopping 47 keystrokes... and repositioning of hands 6 times between the keyboarded and touch screen above. I’ve tried saving my email address in the dictionary without the underscores. But it’s equally frustrating trying to get the curser to land in just the right place (having to use the touch screen) to add the underscores. In the browser you can’t scroll through predictive text options you have to hit a drop down, scroll and then click to select. To get to the text screen you have to click through twice and click a drop down and selected again, and often click again, to get out. I’ve hardly sent any texts since I got the phone, or done much on-line. I keep trying but it’s just too much hassle. Perhaps this is a phone that people rave about because it’s got a pretty 'screen saver' with pretty little 'widgets' that can following your finger round the screen like a loyal little puppy dogs. But, frankly, it’s a pain in the rear to use when it comes to the most basic functions...
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Reviewed by Propeller head from UK on 7th Apr 2009
HI, i had this phone last week as an Upgrade from vodafone and all although the actual quality of construction is OK the rest of it requires a lot to be desired, for one it was described as the best of both worlds!! touch and key pad, well there is an irony to this because you cannot complete even the most simple task with out requiring both, and even when texting you have to clumsily jump from screen to pad and this is the same for most things, the whole user interface only feels half finished and very frustrating, if you press the back button on the touch screen three times while slowly texting (no querty keyboard?) you will lose what you have written so far, after about 6 times of this happening and the call clarity being very poor i have now returned mine in exchange for the Nokia 5800 which is about 10 times better. If you compare this to most of the other touch screen offerings from all the phone manufactures its specifications look impressive but the whole does not live up to the sum of the parts. Plus Points = Good build quality Minus points = No Wifi, poor call quality, clumsy user interface, poor image quality for a 8Mpg camera, no third party software. Conclusion, this phone fells more like an experiment to see if it could be achieved than a finished product, just a gimmick and not very user friendly at all.
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Reviewed by Sabrina from England on 6th Apr 2009
I got this phone as an upgrade on Orange on Friday. It's a great phone with lots of gadgets. I really wanted it because it allowed me to have a touch screen phone and still have a proper keypad as well as I wasn't sure how I was going to take to a touchscreen phone. It turned out the keypad was actually quite annoying for texting as you need to press the buttons quite hard to get them to work, plus to delete a letter you had to go back to the touch screen anyway. The other reason I wanted it was because I loved that it had divx support as I loved the fact I could just put my downloaded films and tv shows straight on the phone without having to convert them. I put a few different avi videos on there and most of them played well, others were a bit jumpy but overall the picture was great and I loved that aspect of the phone. The camera was good but have nothing to compare it to, so can't say how it shapes up against other 8MP camera phone. When on the phone, the call clarity was fine, not as good as my previous phone, but no problems. I still decided to send the phone back to Orange today. My last 3 phones were all Sony Ericssons so I am used to their brilliant predictive text. The main thing I do on the phone are texting and using the web browser for Facebook, Twitter, Email etc and as great as the gadgets of the phones are, if the basics don't work (or not the way I like them) then it's no use. It's little things like when you enter a word with predictive text and choose the third option possible it's all good, but if you need to add a comma or a dot it will revert back to the first option, which was really annoying, so you had a add a space, delete it and then add the comma afterwards. It annoyed me that the browser wouldn't remember any of my passwords, so each time I went onto facebook etc, I had to log in from scratch. Installed Opera Mini and that took care of that though, so if like me you use facebook and twitter quite a lot, forget the installed browser, at least for those sites, and use opera mini instead. Battery life isn't great though. Yesterday I spent about 15 minutes on the phone, sent a few texts and watched half an episode of Lost and the battery was down to one bar at 6pm when I only took it off the charger at 9am that morning. If you design a phone with Divx support you must expect people to wanna watch films on there, but I think if you watch a whole film on a train journey somewhere, you're battery is going to be completely wiped by the end of the film. But it is still a very good phone. Would give it 5 stars even though it isn't really for me, but the weak battery makes me wanna take a star off. If you are used to Samsung's predictive text you are going to love this phone, if you're not, it might be a bit annoying. And for me, that, coupled with the weak battery, was reason enough to send it back.
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Reviewed by Tique from England on 6th Apr 2009
Andyman - how do you get the left handed settings please? Also am I right when I say below there is no animation support in text messages? I still can't find it. Also disapointed there is no option for a QWERTY keyboard or use the phone on its side for texting - this might give one more room to type. Having used it for over a week, my major gripe is still the absence of a scroll back button (other than delete) can't see how they could change this in a firmware update sadly so stuck with that I guess.
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Reviewed by Sandra from UK on 6th Apr 2009
Got this phone as an upgrade from Vodafone. Never had a Samsung before so thought I would give it a go. Found the phone OK, did not like the text facility but the main problem is that it keeps switching itself off. No pattern to this it just randomly turns off. So not impressed at all and will be arranging to send it back today.
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Reviewed by Jim from UK on 6th Apr 2009
Got this three days after it came out from O2 as an upgrade (free). Good points Design is lovely, feeels very high quality, call quality was excellent, VERY good quality camera and video recorder. 'Poor point' Nothing major, BUT, not as easy to text on as a nokia, this seems to go for all samsung handsets. No Googlemaps even though advertised as 'navigation'. Widgets are gimmicks until things like facebook and or eBay turn up. Touch screen very nice but still not an ipod touch! Get it as a fashion icon, but if you want the list of features it claims, you will have to get a smart phone.
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Reviewed by Alison from UK on 5th Apr 2009
Received this as upgrade on friday, have to say loved the look of it, the reality on first use though was a bit dissapointing, found the UI confusing but this could have been because I have been used to the Nokia interface. Having now played around with it for a couple of days, am starting to find my way around and beginning to love it! The screen quality is really first class, very vibrant and bright. The colours stand out. The touchscreen is mostly responsive to the touch, occasionally seems not to respond till you touch it again, but not frustratingly. The one thing that did initially drive me nuts was the noise everytime you touch something on the screen, couldnt find a way of turning this off at first. Am not used to Samsung phones and even my husband who has the G600 couldnt work this out at first. Anyway we have figured it out and its actually quite simple, was just a case of finding where it was. The handset is very slim, and well crafted, looks cool in its black and red trim. Have not had a chance to try out all the functions yet, but first call I recieved was from my son who had just landed in Hong Kong and the call was crystal clear. I have used it for texting, and like the choice of fonts. No problems there. The ring tone is loud, have not as yet downloaded any music, comes with a 1gb card. Like widgets, think they add to the functionality, drag and drop works well. Played with the camera today, looks good on the phone, again have not had the opportunity to transfer to PC.Overall I think this is a very good mobile, its not quite a smartphone but not far off it!
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Reviewed by skamph from uk on 4th Apr 2009
This phone is pretty cool. Am not especially loyal to any particular brand, having had nokia, sony, motorola, samsung etc over the years, but have to say am so far pretty impressed with this one. If you are used to Samsung phones then the way the messaging works is no surprise and I've never found that to be much of a problem. Have no problem with its predictive text, or the onscreen keyboard (you just gotta get used to how it works). Overall I would rate it as a 5, but still playing with the menu's etc - so yet to decide if it deserves outstanding. If you're considering whether to go with this or not - best thing you can do is go to a store and have a play.
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Reviewed by David from Scotland on 4th Apr 2009
Amazing phone I just got it from orange and its much better than my LG Viewty...however be warned it costs me £146.50 to upgrade on orange with a £35 contract. A tad pricey in my opinion but a great phone none the less.
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Reviewed by anon from uk on 3rd Apr 2009
AMAZING AMZING AMAZING
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Reviewed by Stephen from England on 2nd Apr 2009
Firstly, this phone looks and feels solidly built and weighs in at (a hefty) 122 grams. Switching on, the screen looks stunning. The colours are really vibrant and images crystal clear. The touch screen is responsive and easy to navigate with a little practice. Navigating the menus is relatively straightforward also. The camera is excellant and has loads of settings in which to play with. MP3 and radio quality are all top notch and easy to use. As this is first and foremost a phone, making calls is a slight chore. Far too many (seemingly pointless) options. Sometimes less is more Samsung. Quality of the earpiece is slighty disappointing. It often sounds like the person is on the other side of the planet. Texting is the worst part of using this phone. Using the mechanical keys is like getting a workout for your fingers. They are very heavy to press and for some unknown reason, the delete key appears on the touch screen. This makes rapid texting very difficult. Using the touch screen for texting is slightly better but by no means perfect. If you have big fingers then the whole task becomes frustrating. And as previously posted, the extra step needed to send your (eventually) completed text is totally unnecessary. Also of note is that occasionally, after adding a full stop, the phone alters the prior word eg "amazing." becomes "coaxing." Hopefully Samsung will provide firmware updates, for those who are keeping this handset. With a few tweaks, this could be a very good handset, but I won't be holding my breath so mine is heading back to O2.
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Reviewed by DJ Gordon from Israel on 1st Apr 2009
Except for the fact that there's no zooming in the camera, and the speaker is rediculously weak, this is by far the best phone i have ever earned by far. best mp3 sound quality, best design, best camera quality and the touchpad is awesome. highly recomended
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Reviewed by Cheryl from England on 1st Apr 2009
This phone has had a massive impact on my life. Mainly making me think that my what I believed to be relatively normal sized fingers, are in fact the size of sausages!! Although a nice looking phone, unless you have pins for fingers even the simplest of functions become a chore after accidently pressing the wrong option half a dozen times with your chunky digits!! Texting is a nightmare and the earlier review by Tique pretty much covers it all for me.I was unsure about pre ordering this phone and really wanted to love it when it arrived but after 5 days its being parceled up and returned to Vodafone with my love!
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Reviewed by Andyman from Scotland on 1st Apr 2009
I think this is a great phone and if you spend time looking at the options (like left hand right hand settings) you'll discover how good it is. For me the first phone in years I can say outstanding about.
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Reviewed by Gary from England on 1st Apr 2009
I got this phone for my wife as an upgrade on o2. She was a bit wary of the touch screen at the begining but after 1 day she was fine with it, i've tried to nick it off her but she wont have so i will have to stick with my i8510.
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