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Samsung UltraTOUCH S8300 Hands On (SRP P23,990)

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Announced early this year in MWC 2009, the Samsung Ultra Touch (UltraTOUCH) is now here in the Philippines. Although the official launch is still set for tomorrow, I was able to steal a demo unit from their office. My first impressions cover a whole day of usage.

The phone’s “factory” name is the S8300 UltraTOUCH. The slider feels very slick and comfortable with rounded edges and is by all means thin. Since this is a touch screen phone, Samsung did away with the directional pad in the middle, replacing it with a back button. The other two keys in front are for accepting and ending calls. As for the touch screen, this is a step up from previous technologies (like the Pixon M8800) — the user interface is slightly faster, resembling much of the already recognizable widget-imbued home screen.

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There are three default virtual buttons apart from the widget interface on the home screen: menu, keypad and phone book. These three buttons are present throughout most of the interface, even if you’re viewing the grid view of everything on the phone.

The touch screen works decently with the SMS input. Just like almost all phones today, the UltraTOUCH supports T9 text input with the spacebar located in the pound key instead of the number “0.”

This is pretty much a slightly faster Samsung Pixon with a keypad, and that’s actually a good thing. Other specs include an 8MP camera, HSDPA connectivity, Bluetooth, microSDHC expansion (the newer standard for memory cards which allows you to store more).

I guess my only complaint would be the lack of WiFi, but overall the UltraTOUCH delivers a decent touch screen experience. The 8MP camera is actually quite good as I was able to take nice shots, like here:

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A sneak peek — this is the Samsung OMNIA HD which runs on Symbian — not Windows Mobile. But that’s reserved for another day. 😉

By Jayvee Fernandez

Jayvee Fernandez is a tech enthusiast, EAN certified SCUBA Diver and underwater photographer based in Metro Manila, Philippines. His photos and videos have appeared in various international and local publications including Random House Germany, Discovery Channel Canada, and CNN.

11 replies on “Samsung UltraTOUCH S8300 Hands On (SRP P23,990)”

kailan po neo irereview ung 8910i omnia??
so cool!
kailan po lalabas ung ultrah and saang mga stores?!
thanks!!!
Ü

i got one for PHP21k+. i am a nokia user eversince and am having a hard time in transition to samsung s3800. Could anybody help me on these problems?:
1. the blutoothed notes from my nokia has microscopic fonts in my samsung. I got plenty of notes from my nokia.
2. why is the memo limited in letter space when i write on it?
3. where is the enter key in the slide keypad?
4. where is the backspace in the slide keypad?

please help…

bing j

mag kano to sa dubai? =) papabili aq s papa ko

e2 ung gusto ko, touchscreen n silder phone hayz =3

i like it

pra siyang nokia n86 8mp

kso e2 touch screen hayzz

i like it talgah

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