Samsung has created a ripple in the market with its dual-sided Samsung F300.
The handset presents itself as the combination of a music player and standard phone, and comes packaged in a slim, compact shape, so that it can be easily carried as well.
A nice try indeed, but what Samsung F300 fails to do, is to score a high marks in usability as well.
Thus, while the innovation makes an impression, the lack of user friendliness blurs its reputation.
The side of the Samsung F300 that features a standard functionalities of a phone, is full of flaws.
The keys are small and for fat fingers sure poses problems.
But even smaller is the screen.
The display can only show up to 3 lines of text.
While this may sound okay to cater to the basic requirements like SMS etc, accessing advance features (like web browsing) become problematic.
In this case the only way out is to turn to the other side, with larger and better screen.
This side of phone that is modelled on the platform of a iPod Nano, includes a bright display, making viewing a delight.
This problem of constant flipping makes the users feel quite irritating, thereby making usability almost nill.
The Menu system of Samsung F300 is also a mess.
The entries are badly labelled and is difficult to find things.
For example, video is found under the category of Albums.
Another area of concern is its battery life.
The battery is anemic, and offers only two hours of talk time.
Samsung supplies the phone with a case that incorporates a second battery, but this seriously bulks up the handset.
One really does not find anything to recommend in the phone - the Samsung F300.
If you are looking for a good music phone, you might as well choose Sony Ericsson.
And trust me, you wont miss the Samsung F300.
The handset presents itself as the combination of a music player and standard phone, and comes packaged in a slim, compact shape, so that it can be easily carried as well.
A nice try indeed, but what Samsung F300 fails to do, is to score a high marks in usability as well.
Thus, while the innovation makes an impression, the lack of user friendliness blurs its reputation.
The side of the Samsung F300 that features a standard functionalities of a phone, is full of flaws.
The keys are small and for fat fingers sure poses problems.
But even smaller is the screen.
The display can only show up to 3 lines of text.
While this may sound okay to cater to the basic requirements like SMS etc, accessing advance features (like web browsing) become problematic.
In this case the only way out is to turn to the other side, with larger and better screen.
This side of phone that is modelled on the platform of a iPod Nano, includes a bright display, making viewing a delight.
This problem of constant flipping makes the users feel quite irritating, thereby making usability almost nill.
The Menu system of Samsung F300 is also a mess.
The entries are badly labelled and is difficult to find things.
For example, video is found under the category of Albums.
Another area of concern is its battery life.
The battery is anemic, and offers only two hours of talk time.
Samsung supplies the phone with a case that incorporates a second battery, but this seriously bulks up the handset.
One really does not find anything to recommend in the phone - the Samsung F300.
If you are looking for a good music phone, you might as well choose Sony Ericsson.
And trust me, you wont miss the Samsung F300.