Samsung S5550 Shark 2 preview: First look

Introduction

Today Samsung introduced a new line of lower mid-range handsets, which should help them maintain their increasingly strong position in the segment. The three Sharks bring decent overall functionality to people that don't have too great of a budget or any desire to jump on the touchscreen bandwagon.

Samsung S5550 Shark 2

We now have the pleasure of introducing you the Samsung S5550 Shark 2. The Shark 2 is the best spec'd handset of the newly announced carnivorous bunch but shares the aircraft-inspired design with the others..Still, idesoite its compact dimesnions, it's relatively chubby and does look like a phone Samsung could have easily produced in the entry level segment a couple of years ago.

But you know, this stranger with a predatory name could be hiding more gems other than the one below its display so let's have a look at the main features of the Shark 2.

Samsung S5550 Shark 2 at a glance:

• General: GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 900/2100 MHz, HSDPA 3.6 Mbps
• Form factor: Slider
• Dimensions: 101.8 x 48.7 x 14.8mm, 99g
• Display: 2.2-inch 262K color AMOLED display with QVGA resolution (240 x 320)
• Memory: 106MB integrated memory, hot-swappable microSD card slot (up to 8GB)
• UI: Proprietary Samsung UI with direct uploads to social networking sites and basic multi-tasking
• Camera: 5 megapixel auto focus camera with LED flash, face detection, smile shot,wide dynamic range; QVGA video recording @ 30fps
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, proprietary Samsung connectivity port
• Misc: FM radio with radio recording, DNSe 2.0 (Digital Natural Sound Engine), document viewer, Palringo Instant Messenger (Gtalk, AIM, ICQ support), Fake call, Find music recognition service
• Battery: Li-Ion 960 mAh battery

As you can see the compact slider offers decent all-round functionality, without trying to blow your mind away. Of course, the 2.2" display looks smallish when compared to some of the competitors but we hope Samsung will compensate for that with a lower price tag.

Samsung S5550 Shark 2 at ours

The Shark 2 was never meant to be a handset that will give you boasting rights in front of your friends. However its down-to-earth approach helps it get an excellent score on the bang-for-buck test and if you are a no-nonsense buyer that still looks on the mobile phones primary as a mean of communication that is what matters the most.

Usually with that kind of mobile phones the design and ergonomics is what counts the most so our traditional hardware inspection falls right into place at the beginning of the preview. You will find it after this short jump.