Refine search for Mobile Phones

Samsung Tocco Lite GT-S5230 Review

Author Sandra Vogel
Published 17th Jul 2009
Manufacturer Samsung Mobile UK
Supplier Virgin Mobile UK
Price From Free on Contract
Latest Price Click here
Design Score 8 for Design
Features Score 7 for Features
Usability Score 9 for Usability
Value Score 9 for Value
Overall Score 8 for Overall
Samsung Tocco Lite GT-S5230
Bookmark and Share discuss this article  1 comment    Email  Email trustedreviews newslettersTrustedReviews Newsletters

Samsung's touch-based user interface always impresses me, and the Tocco Lite keeps up the good work. Getting round the handset is intuitive so there's no need to resort to the manual, and vertical menus are large so that accuracy with the finger isn't a problem.

When it comes to entering text, there are several options. There is an accelerometer in the handset and when you are in the messaging software, you can twist the phone in your hand to get a full QWERTY keyboard in landscape mode. This is very responsive to use two-thumbed and you can toggle a T9 word recognition system on and off depending on your preference.

In portrait mode, you don't have the QWERTY option. Instead, there is a numberpad, again with T9 toggle, and some handwriting recognition options which work well with a fingernail as long as you go quite slowly.


Samsung implements its good old widgets system on the Tocco Lite. There are three main screens, which you pan between with a finger. They can all be populated with widgets that you drag onto screen from a sidebar. The sidebar slides out when you tap its tab.

There are some connected widgets such as one for the weather (AccuWeather); links to Facebook and MySpace, which take you to their websites rather than being mobile clients; and a YouTube link. Trying YouTube over GPRS was not a pleasant experience. Jerky, blocky, unwatchable.

Other widgets include links to photos, the calendar, music playback controls and favourite contacts. I love the widgets system but feel Samsung has a way to go before it is perfect. One major problem is that widget icons are often large so you can only have two or three on screen at once. The multiple home screen system helps with this issue, but I am sure Samsung could make some of the widgets smaller.

 

Newsletters

Register to receive the latest Reviews and News Headlines directly to your Inbox every day, and enter our regular competitions. More Info.

Your Name


Email Address


Latest 1 of 1 Comments

Have your say: Leave a comment below about this article.

comment Runadumb said on 17th July 2009

3 Phones reviews this week and the only one anyone takes notice of is the Iphone. Sad but hey, these 2 handsets do nothing for me either. Looking forward to the ominia 2 review

See 1 comment on this article.

add comment Add your comment

You must be logged in to comment. Login or register here.