Samsung Galaxy 3 I5800 deals & review

In a word or two

The Samsung Galaxy 3 I5800 is an Android with the TouchWiz interface, designed to appeal to the masses with an inexpensive price tag and apps for social networking as well as business.

The Design

Not dissimilar to the iPhone in shape and size, the Samsung Galaxy 3 I5800 measures 113.5 x 55 x 12.9mm and features nicely curved edges. The screen is 3.2 inches and uses capacitive technology to ensure the handset picks-up swiftly on your finger movements. There is also multi-touch support for effortless pinch-and-zoom ability from pinching the screen between two fingers.

The display quality on the screen of the Galaxy 3 is high and the inbuilt accelerometer means you can flip the phone on its side whenever an image looks best in landscape mode.

With a simple, plastic case available in black or white, the Samsung Galaxy 3 I5800 looks smart. The only physical item breaking the otherwise clean front of the phone is the diamond-shaped menu key that can also be used to scroll up and down, and left and right – handy for typing corrections. There are touch-sensitive keys for home, menu, back and search but these are designed to not show unless the screen is on, at which point they light up.

In terms of comfort, the Galaxy 3 feels good in the hand and its compact size enables use from one hand. The back of the phone is curved with the top and bottom higher than the middle, which also serves to shield the camera lens from harm’s way.

Specifications

The Samsung Galaxy 3 I5800 is an Android smartphone and runs on the current 2.1 OS. Samsung has actually tweaked the interface so it looks similar to the company’s own OS, Bada. This works because there are similarities between the two OSs so the integration is smooth and user friendly. There are 7 home screens as a result, which can all be customised with various widgets and apps. The main home screen features four set shortcuts for instant access to the call area, contacts, messages and apps.

When it comes to widgets, you’ll be spoilt for choice. There is a widget for social networking, the Feed and Update widget, which works in the same fashion as HTC’s Friend Stream on the Desire phone and Motorola’s MotoBlur on the Dext handset. All updates and messages from your friends on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are shown in this widget, which also lets you make your own updates straight from here. For more intensive online interaction, you’ll be pleased to note there are apps for both Facebook and MySpace pre-installed. And with access to the Android Market you can download more to sit with the likes of Google Talk and YouTube.

The Galaxy 3 was launched alongside its slightly more affordable brother, the Galaxy 5 handset. Both phones come with Document Viewer so you can open and read Office documents on the move. On the Samsung Galaxy 3 I5800, there are other business features too including the Daily Briefing widget which shows you a round-up of news, weather and your appointments for the day.

The music experience on this phone is high. The MP3 player and radio are enhanced by the addition of DNSe (Digital Natural Sound Engine) technology with Music Clarity and bass enhancement. The Samsung Galaxy 3 I5800 also comes with a video player that has DivX and XviD support; and a 3.2-megapixel camera with video.

Considerations

There is no flash on the camera.

Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy 3 I5800 is an Android device with a decent touchscreen and array of features and apps to aid communication, entertain and support business needs too.