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

There is good and bad news where music is concerned. A generous 50MB of built-in memory is expandable with microSD cards which music fans may find useful for carrying tunes. But to get to the microSD card slot you have to remove the battery making hotswapping of cards impossible.

The headset connector is Samsung's own proprietary type and is side-mounted. This inevitably leads to pocket snagging and because Samsung provides a one-piece headset it also means you can't use your favourite earphones for listening to music. The headset is of poor to average quality and so, while overall the Tocco Lite will do as a music phone, it certainly isn't one I'd recommend if you are a keen music fan.

What about that camera? Well, as usual Samsung has made an excellent job of implementing the on-screen controls and it is very easy to get around by tapping the screen. There are one or two extras like a panorama mode and smile shot.


But without a flash the camera doesn't do terribly well indoors. I found even the coloured dish, photographed under normal household lighting, was poor. Outside, things are better, though again you need good lighting conditions and to be careful about what you try to photograph. The chair is not a bad attempt but the flowers, while their colour reproduction is good, suffer from poor exposure.

Sadly, I didn't have time to do a full music rundown battery test on this handset. I say sadly because during everyday use the battery did very well. After two days of average use, there was plenty of juice left. Probably not surprising since I kept off the Internet and there is no Wi-Fi, 3G or GPS to give it a real thrashing. But it was a decent showing nonetheless.

Additional applications include calendar, memo maker, task manager, calculator, unit converter (unforgivably miss-spelt in the menu as convertor), FM radio, voice recorder, timer, stopwatch, RSS reader and alarms. Bluetooth is present too.

Verdict

The Tocco Lite is a lovely handset with some annoying shortcomings. The lack of 3G is no surprise given its low price but the large screen made me wish for it (along with Wi-Fi and GPS). Oversized Widgets need some attention. But the touchscreen is very responsive and the balance between weight, handset size, and screen size is just about right.

 

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.