Samsung i320 review: Smart goes slim

Camera and multimedia

Samsung has equipped its new smartphone with a camera with 1.3 MP resolution. Even so, you will hardly manage to take sharp images unless there is enough daylight, only then the shutter speed is fast enough. The later in the afternoon and the less natural light available, the harder it becomes for Samsung i320 to take pictures of satisfying quality. If light conditions are favorable, resulting photos will probably be quite good. The Samsung i320's camera uses a low compression and the end result is slightly larger picture files but with the added benefit of a better quality. Unfortunately, there is no dedicated macro mode for shooting from close distance.

Photographing in daylight; a night picture taken with active LED light

Photos are relatively sharp; zoom

Shooting from close distance leads to poor quality pictures

If you happen to like filming, you will surely appreciate the Samsung i320's ability to shoot video in a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels. Not bad at all, is it? The majority of all currently offered mobile phones achieve a resolution of no more than 176 x 144 pixels. In the camera menu of Samsung i320 you will also find plenty of effects, like a smooth digital zoom, brightness control etc.

   
Post-capture modifications; the first screenshot does not include all graphic elements

Like every device featuring an open OS Samsung i320 has an almost unlimited support for multimedia applications. It offers a memory cards slot, with capacity depending on the user's wish only. Thanks to the built-in Windows Media Player you will be able to play video in WMV format as well as music in MP3 or WMA formats. Should you prefer applications supporting MPEG (PocketTV) or DivX (TCMP Player), feel free to install them additionally. Result will always depend on each particular movie and its compression. I was pleasantly surprised when Samsung i320 managed to play even a non-converted video designed for common PC with a bitrate of approximately 1 MB and resolution of 600 pixels sideward. I just had to open the TCMP Player and select Intel XScale as a Video Driver. Nevertheless, I do not recommend you to play high-resolution films on a display of 320 pixels, as this will eat you up a great amount of memory. You'd better use one of the numerous user-friendly applications for video conversion (PocketDivXEncoder, for example). Video sound is backed up by two speakers and is pretty good. Earphones fans will probable remain disappointed as Samsung i320 lacks a standard connector.

Battery life depends on you

Samsung i320 is able to fully function during a period of three entire days. Should you use all its applications frequently, however, you will hardly do without charging every night. The phone can also be charged through USB (while synchronizing, for example). Samsung i320 can even be charged through a USB 2.0 connector without the need of a PC switched on. I miss the standard miniUSB connector, which is a standard element of the equipment of HTC smartphones and communicators, as this frees me of having to think about carrying the charger always with me. What's more, a miniUSB cable is possible to find among the extras in nearly every PC package.

Small but powerful

Samsung i320 is one of the best designed current smartphones on the mobile market. Since the very beginning of this review I have been trying to yank out at least one significant drawback of the phone - yet unsuccessfully. Those of you in need of Wi-Fi should ignore this new Samsung smartphone. All the rest, make sure you take into account Samsung i320 when you decide to get yourself a new smartphone. The new Korean device has a brilliantly manufactured body, good synchronization abilities; it provides Internet access and works with emails. Basically, besides the obvious lack of widely available free applications, it's got all it takes to keep your communication needs satisfied.