Samsung B5310 CorbyPRO review: Type and go

QWERTY-fied messaging

As you might expect, the Samsung B5310 CorbyPRO handles all common message types. The handset has a shared editor for SMS and MMS and a separate one for emails. You can either use the on-screen numpad (in portrait mode only) or you'd better go for the hardware QWERTY keyboard, which is quite comfortable.

Messages menu • composing an SMS

There is also a native email client. It failed to retrieve Gmail settings automatically so we had to enter them manually, but once that's done, emailing is a breeze.

The attachment limit for sending and receiving is 5MB, which is enough for most file types. If you receive an office document as an attachment, you will be able to view it as well thanks to the integrated office document viewer.

Surprisingly for a device in this class, the CorbyPRO also sports Push e-mail. Naturally, being a Java app, the Emoze application works only when the app is open - but keeping it running in the background is easy thanks to the nice task manager.

Emoze brings Push e-mail to the CorbyPRO

The Samsung B5310 comes with a preinstalled IM client, namely the Palringo JAVA app. A wide range of services are supported (including Yahoo! Messenger, Google Talk, ICQ, Windows Live Messenger, etc.).

For the IM addicts there's the Palringo

Plenty of social networking services

As promised by the manufacturer, the B5310 CorbyPRO comes with social integration disguised as four neat homescreen widgets - MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and Bebo.

All four widgets have similar interface - a big update button at the top, a text field for your current mood/status message and some buttons at the bottom.

In the MySpace widget the available options include checking your messages, getting into chat and adding friends. The Facebook widget offers checking your messages, adding new friends and its last option is poking a friend, while the Twitter widget has only two virtual keys - friends and followers. The Bebo widget packs a total of two buttons too – for adding new friends and starting a message. The Settings button is available everywhere offering options for auto-refresh and adding a photo.

MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter widgets • settings

As you see, the widgets aren't exactly full of features, but the basics seem well covered. They are more than enough to keep you connected to your social circle on the go.

Social networking integration stretches even further to having a dedicated item in the main menu. The Communities item gets you links to websites such as Facebook, Picasa and Flickr and the ability to directly upload files. You can also preset your login details so you don't have to enter them each time you access those websites or try to upload content from the file manager - the B5310 CorbyPRO stores your credentials for you.

Communities list • Settings • Uploading a photo

That pretty much covers what Samsung have been doing in the social networking department. Unfortunately, there's still no full phonebook integration along the lines of the HTC Sense UI on the Hero and the HD2, or the MotoBLUR UI on the Motorola Dext.

No matter how limited, the controls available on the Samsung CorbyPRO allow you to chat, update your status, post tweets, upload photos and read your friends' new posts. Thanks to the hardware QWERTY keyboard typing is a pleasure and the 3G support with HSDPA as well as the support for Wi-Fi make tweeting, poking, etc so much faster.