Samsung S5230 preview: First look

Samsung decided to compete with the popular LG Cookie not in one, but in two ways. We already gave you S5600 and now it's time to direct the limelight to Samsung S5230. Join us as we take a short stroll with the 3-incher S5230 and see what what it has to offer to the mainstream segment.

Samsung S5230 is obviously a no-nonsense phones design to appeal to the masses with both its price tag as well its looks, which remind of some the company's top mobiles. Targeting the midrange market Samsung S5230 joins the ranks of cheap touch phones and one thing's for sure. It's not thrown into the fight unprepared.

S5230 is stylish, runs on TouchWiz and can read your written words. Besides it's a casual snapshot taker with even the oh-so-popular Smile Shot mode and it can easily make your portable music player redundant. That seems enough for us - let's see with what weapons Samsung are planning to take on the midrange touch wars.

Samsung S5230 official photo

Samsung S5230 at a glance:

• General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, GPRS/EDGE class 12
• Form factor: Touchscreen bar, no keypad
• Dimensions: 104.0 x 53.0 x 11.9 mm, 93.5 gr.
• Display: 3-inch resistive TFT touchscreen, WQVGA resolution (240 x 400 pixels)
• Memory: 87MB, Non-hot-swappable microSD card slot (up to 16GB)
• Camera: 3 megapixel fixed focus camera with smile detection
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB v.2.0
• Misc: Accelerometer sensor, FM radio with RDS, Find Music recognition service, DNSe, Gesture lock
• Battery: 1000 mAh battery

Samsung S5230 at our office

The new Samsung S5230 is not something revolutionary; it even cannot be described as evolutionary. It's just the right kind of feature mix targeted at the midrange market with surgical precision. It seems an even more direct competitor to the already available LG Cookie than the Samsung S5600, but the real head-to-head will take place only when the phone gets out there and starts doing some actual sales. And it's almost destined to sell well, thanks to its expected low price and the helpful nifty little things that make it special.

Samsung S5230 compared to iPhone 3G and Samsung S5600

Join us on the next page for a walkthrough of the Samsung S5230 exterior and ergonomics. Just bear in mind that it's still a rather early pre-production unit and changes before the actual product is out are quite possible.