Samsung Tocco Ultra Edition

Its 8-megapixel camera beefs up the photo firepower from the Tocco's 5-megapixel shooter, with a hefty bunch of shooting features for both stills and video imaging

I review the Samsung S8300 Tocco Ultra Edition, a stylish touchscreen and sliderphone combination packing an 8-megapixel camera, A-GPS and much more

Taking its successful Tocco template and adding a novel twist, Samsung swerves away from the regular touchscreen formula with its new S8300 Tocco Ultra Edition, adding a slide-down numberpad to go with all the finger-swiping control gadgetry.

While boosting its crossover appeal to those undecided on pure touchscreen control, the Tocco Ultra Edition's sliderphone keypad offers a compromise that's designed to be more text messaging-friendly without being clunky.

Based around a 2.8-inch AMOLED display, and running on Samsung's latest TouchWiz v1.5 user interface, the Tocco Ultra Edition is still a compact touchscreen device, albeit with a little extra bodywork to accommodate the slider.

Its 8-megapixel camera beefs up the photo firepower from the Tocco's 5-megapixel shooter, with a hefty bunch of shooting features for both stills and video imaging. This year's model also packs in A-GPS satellite location finding technology, for geo-tagging pics and mapping with Google Maps software onboard.

The Tocco Ultra Edition supports an upgraded version of Widgets on the home screen - mini apps that can be used to open a bunch of onboard functions plus a selection of neat web-based applications.

HSDPA high-speed 3G connectivity is present (of the the 7.2Mbps variety), but alas Samsung hasn't included Wi-Fi - something that would have been more than welcome on this Tocco upgrade.

Other 3G staples are present - including video calling via a front-facing camera above the display - while DivX and Xvid video playback is also supported.

Design and handling
Unusually for a recent touchscreen phone, this isn't a run-of-the-mill iPhone-alike design. Blending its Ultra-series sliderphone look with the compact Tocco, Samsung has added eye-catching elements to the charcoal-look casing - including red or blue metallic piping around the display, and slabs of the same colour on the slider numberpad and camera housing (which sits under the back panel when closed).

It's a slightly longer design than the Tocco, at 110(h) x 51.5(w) x 12.7(d) mm, and just a smidge thicker, but its 119g bodyweight balances nicely in-hand with the slider open, and it's certainly no pocket-sagger.

The Tocco's Ultra Edition's updated display looks lovely, the 16-million colour, 240x400 pixels AMOLED providing lush graphics and imaging presentation. The 2.8-inch display is not the biggest touchscreen in town but its compact dimensions are generally ample for finger dabbing on the screen with a relatively error-free action, thanks to the sensibly engineered user interface.

Touch control
Although it doubles up on text-typing functions with the slider numberpad and virtual onscreen keypad, Samsung hasn't gone too far down the dual-control system. The central front panel button, between the Call and End keys, that looks very much like a regular diamond-shaped navigation D-pad, isn't - it's simply a Back button to go to your previous step in the menu system.

This can prove frustrating at first, particularly when the slider's open, as you find yourself automatically acting as if it is a proper D-pad - pressing centrally to select onscreen options (instead of tapping the screen) or squeezing down the edges to scroll (rather than finger-stroking to scroll). The result - exiting an app or option - is head-slappingly irritating.

Thankfully, it doesn't take long for the penny to drop, and you suppress those regular sliderphone urges.

The silder numberpad comes into its own when texting. It makes it more of a conventional phone experience, whereas for plenty of touchscreen phones messaging has been a problematic experience. This phone does require touchscreen interaction, for some actions such as selecting contacts, backspacing, and so on, which can be less intuitive - and much slower to use - than on regular phones.

But newcomers to touchscreens are likely to find it less fiddly than most touch-only set-ups. It's far from perfect however - the lack of physical buttons slows down and drags some actions, such as going back through T9 predictive text options or selecting symbols. Speedy texters may find this frustrating, and it's a shame Samsung hasn't got this part spot-on, as it's such an integral part of the mobile user experience.

As it happens, the alternative virtual touch keypad on this phone is well laid out and more usable than other larger-screened phones. There isn't, however, a virtual Qwerty keyboard text option to fall back on.

Overall though, the touchsreen control experience is good and very usable.Samsung has gradually been improving its touchscreen interface, and this version of TouchWiz works effectively in most cases, offering functional - and sensible - ways to do the business in the menu system. Options are clear and consistently laid out, so it's fairly easy to get comfortable with. The screen feels responsive to the touch, too, with commands carried out swiftly plus adjustable haptic feedback to confirm screen presses.

The user interface isn't up to the Apple iPhone's slick Multi-Touch smoothness, however; there's still some way to go to catch up. Scrolling through lists of options you can finger swipe or use onscreen scroll icons for quickly finding contact names. You can also search by typing in text using the virtual or slider numberpads.

Graphics have been improved from the austere ones we've seen before, but it's still recognisably Samsung, with numbered options on scroll-down lists selectable by pressing numbers on the numberpad as well as by screen pressing. It's not as whooshily eye-catching as the LG Arena's 3D S-Class UI, but it is serviceable and well thought out - fingers have enough room to do their job. There is an accelrometer for auto-flipping the screen between landscape and portrait, though it only works in certain functions.

The home screen offers three control buttons on the bottom to pull up a virtual keypad, the phonebook and to open up the main menus. You can also swipe crossways to pull up the menu and favourite contacts.

Widgets
The Widgets function for home screen apps is similar to that employed on the Samsung Pixon. A selection of icons representing widgets - mini applications - are hosted in a touch-to-open toolbar that appears vertically on the right of the display. Tapping the icons pulls the icons on to the main screen, where they remain until you drag them back into the toolbar.

You can choose as many widgets as you like for your home screen, and use the widget applications wihen the toolbar is closed to operate functions or access features - including several online services, such as Facebook, MySpace and AccuWeather.com. A wide range of functions are widget-ised - these include calendar, memo, world clock, an image upload Share pix app, image viewer, games shortcut, Google apps, music and radio players, and many more.

Others can be added from within the menus (or deselected from the toolbar if you prefer to unclutter it), while another More Widgets app enables you to find and download new ones online.

It's an attractive - and handy - way of getting feature shortcuts at your fingertips on the home screen. A tap of the widget opens up the app to use immediately onscreen, or takes you directly to appropriate menus or online sites. The concept is a breeze to operate and works effectively enough for users to experiment comfortably with it; changes can be made quickly and easily with a couple of finger taps in an intuitive, uncomplicated way.

Camera action
Packing a top of the range 8-megapixel camera, the Samsung Tocco Ultra Edition is capable of capturing some outstanding images for a mobile phone. Slip out the slider to reveal the lens, press the camera button and in a couple of seconds the screen flips into camera viewfinder mode, with an easy to operate touchscreen user interface to select from a wide range of shooting settings, effects and adjustment options.

The autofocus system works swiftly and accurately, enabling you to get tightly focused images. Macro mode works great for extreme close-ups. In addition, the camera has a Face Detection setting which enables you to pick out and focus on a face in a busy shot. Engaging a Smile Shot option sets the camera to capture images only when a smile is detected, while Blink Detection option helps avoid shut eyes in snaps. All work effectively enough, even if you may not find them essential for snapping.

Samsung has equipped it with anti-shake software to reduce handling jitters, while there are plenty of shooting options to tweak the very good auto metering system settings - from ISO and white balance to exposure and WDR (wide dynamic range) light handling options. Panorama, multi-shot and timer options are available too, plus a selection of typical cameraphone effects. With onboard A-GPS, you can also geo-tag snaps, so you can view where they were taken on Google Maps on the handset, or on other suitable applications and online services.

Image quality is top-class for a mobile, with excellent detail and precision in shots, plus vibrant but natural colour rendition. The camera adjusts well to changing conditions, and can takes exceptional pictures in decent light. It shoots reasonably well indoors in natural or artificial light, too, though the powerful LED flash, while bright for an average cameraphone, doesn't quite match the power and clarity of some xenon flash-equipped phones when you're shooting in dark situations.

There are plenty of post-shot editing features too, while a Share Pix facility enables you to upload images quickly and easily to a variety of online servces, including Facebook, Picasa, Flickr, Photobucket, Friendster and MySpace. An accelerometer-driven photo browser enables you to flow through pics by tilting the phone, which is smooth but can sometimes be awkward to control accurately.

Video facilities are pretty impressive too. It shoots at up to 30 frames per second in VGA (640x480 pixels) or WVGA (720x480 pixels) resolution, producing smooth-running, decent quality footage for a mobile. This can be easily uploaded too. An added bonus is slow-motion recording and a fast-action shooting option (shot in lower QVGA res), should you want to be a bit more creative - or just have a bit of fun. Basic movie editing software adds to the mix.

Watching video is a joy too. The 2.8-inch display may not be the biggest, but it is vivid and colourful for video playback. DivX and Xvid video is supported on the handset too.

Music player
Tune playing is another area where the Tocco Ultra Edition puts in a strong showing. Its 80MB of internal storage is supplemented by a 1GB MicroSD memory card in-box, with cards up to 16GB supported. Tunes are organised into familiar categories, and you can search through tracks using virtual or real keypads. The user interface is fine, not tricksy but attractive enough, and functional with touch controls and timeline dragging options. It handle well. But it also hits the mark with great sound quality.

The supplied in-ear earphones are a step up from your average phone headsets, and audio comes across with power, depth and good tonal balance. There's no standard 3.5mm headphone jack socket on the phone - it connects via a MicroUSB socket on the side - which is a shame, though the two-piece earphone set has a 3.5mm adapter mid-way, so you can easily plug in your own better quality ear-gear. We found our reference Sennheisers gave sound quality another boost.

Stereo Bluetooth is supported for wireless earphones or speakers, and there is the obligatory speakerphone playback, too, though the latter is a typically low-grade listening option.

Music IDing software is tucked inside the phone too, so you can search Shazam-like for details of tracks you hear around you or on the built-in FM radio. The radio is well implemented too, and unusually for a phone, you can record straight from it to play back later - a nice touch.

Online activity
With HSDPA, the Samsung Tocco Ultra Edition's browser offers a reasonably tidy way to get around web pages and download content over the air. The absence of Wi-Fi is disappointing on this flagship phone. We'd have liked to have seen this high-speed connectivity present, as is the case on other high-end touchscreen models, particularly as the Tocco Ultra Edition has a decent amount of connected apps and links to online services which could benefit from alternative connectivity.

The NetFront browser has touch-icon or volume controlled zooming and finger-dragging page scrolling, plus a few onscreen tools to dab. It's a different level though to the slick iPhone experience - there's no pinch-zooming and its controls aren't as immediately intuitive. it does the job adequately, however.

A folder of Google applications is pre-loaded too, giving fast access to Google Mail, Search and Google Maps. A-GPS provides exact positioning information if you're within satellite visibility (or cellsite approximation if you're indoors). The software is quite neatly configured for this handset, providing the usual Google Maps services - mapping, satellite imaging, route finding, address look up plus searching for businesses, places of interest, services, and so on.

This online service refreshed downloads quickly, and is accurate and fast to get a satellite fix. The controls are nicely tailored for touch use, with touch buttons for zooming, and pop up tappable menus, and to make navigation easier there are numbered buttons for keypad shortcuts. While Google Maps doesn't do turn-by-turn Sat Nav, it's a very useful tool to have in the mobile armoury.

Samsung doesn't provide any other Sat Nav software pre-loaded, however, so it's no TomTom substitute.

Still, there's a good spread of other features that work well on this device. Among the organiser applications and other tools is Samsung's novel Fake Call. Press and hold the volume in idle mode, and the phone rings as if there's an incoming call, so you can pretend to be taking a call (using a self-recorded fake call too, if you want). It may get you out of a conversational jam or dull meeting nightmare - provided you're not caught faking it.

Standard issue regulars that are re-tooled for TouchWiz include calendar, memo, task, world clock, calculator and convertor functions, plus a RSS reader, stopwatch, timer and voice recorder functions, along with a few games.

Performance
Voice calling performance is top class on this phone, with reliable, clear quality sound throughout our tests. Battery life is reasonable, if unexceptional from a handset like this - Samsung estimates it'll deliver up to four hours of talktime or 300 hours in standby mode. In reality with our typical usage we got a couple of days use with moderate feature playing. Crank that feature-playing up, and you may be reaching for the charger every day.

Summary
We can see the Tocco Ultra Edition being another big hit for Samsung. Adding a numberpad to touchscreen control will extend its appeal to more conventionally-minded mobile users, while the slimline design and lovely screen also have a stylish swagger about them.

Despite the slider numberpad, there are a few issues about texting controls we'd like to see improved, and we'd have liked to have seen Wi-Fi in this Tocco upgrade. Buyers looking for smartphone-style customisation may also prefer something with more application-upgrade flexibility.

Nonetheless, Samsung has produced a very attractive touchscreen phone that's high on tap-control usability and good on gadgetry - not least with its high quality camera. If its features hit the button for you, the Tocco Ultra Edition could be well worth gettiing your mitts on.

Samsung S8300 Tocco Ultra Edition Info

Typical price: £389 SIM-free, from free to £200 with contract

Pros:
Touchscreen control
Sliderphone numberpad improves text input
8-megapixel camera
A-GPS
Widgets
HSDPA
Good quality music playback
In-ear earphones with 3.5mm headphone adapter included

Cons:
No Wi-Fi
No smartphone OS
Some parts of texting operation can still be fiddly
Striking contrast colours used may not suit every taste
Limited A-GPS-based features
LED flash rather than high-powered xenon flash

Verdict: Samsung reworks the Tocco template with a hybrid touchscreen and sliderphone design that also packs in a superb 8-megapixel camera and a decent range of easy to use features

Source: www.knowyourmobile.com