Samsung CorbyTXT B3210 Review
Samsung CorbyTXT B3210 is a global GSM/EDGE phone. It can be used with AT&T and T-Mobile USA
Introduction:
Undeniably, the Samsung Star S5230 has been a pretty successful device so far with total sales of over 10mln units. With the release of the Corby S3650 this fall, the manufacturer took another step on the path to conquering the market of affordable handsets with a cell phone aimed at people that normally remain out of the spotlight - the young. The device won over quite a few hearts and naturally, the manufacturer didn’t linger over its decision to come up with new members of the Corby family. Most of them are targeted at people who prefer texting to verbal means of communication, not to mention the former option is all the rage these days.
What´s in the box of the Samsung CorbyTXT B3210:
- The Samsung CorbyTXT B3210
- Charger
- Stereo headset
- User guide
- Leaflets
Design:
The Samsung CorbyTXT B3210comes with a BlackBerry-like design and feels pretty comfy in yourhand. Its overall dimensions are pretty much the same as these of the BlackBerry Curve 8520 and it´s slightly bulkier than the original Corby S3650.
You can compare the Samsung CorbyTXT B3210 with many other phones using ourSize Visualization Tool
The phone body is made of plastic that feels pleasing to touch and the set comes boxed with two extra back panels that give you the opportunity to alter the appearance of the handset in a snap. We prefer the yellow color solutions, because they go perfectly with the motley elements of the buttons on the front side. Speaking of them, we need to point out that older people or anyone with thicker fingers might face certain troubles using the keyboard. This, however, is not an issue for youngsters, because the keys are slightly slanted to one side. It seems the manufacturer has borrowed the idea from certain BlackBerry handsets, but we don´t really like its implementation in the case of the CorbyTXT – the BlackBerry Curve 8520 is almost the same size and its keyboard is far comfier.
The screen measures just 2.2 inches and comes with the modest native resolution of 220x176 pixels. Icons and menus appear pixelated and sadly, the display gets virtually unusable in direct sunlight. Its only advantage is called properly saturated colors indoors.
The screen of Samsung CorbyTXT B3210is just 2.2 inches
Did you notice the Samsung CorbyTXT is equipped with a microSD slot? We doubt that, because it´s well hidden under the SIM card slot, which is by no means handy.
Samsung CorbyTXT B3210 360 Degrees View:
Interface and software:
In a nutshell, the Samsung CorbyTXT B3210 is a youthful device with simple, but entertaining interface. Our unit is intended for the Italian carrier TIM and there are certain, albeit minor differences to the unlocked, SIM-free version. Since the CorbyTXT doesn’t sport a touch-sensitive screen, it doesn’t run the motley TouchWiz interface, but the manufacturer has managed to remain true to the overall idea. Just like the other members of the Corby family, the handset features several themes that give the interface a truly colourful appearance, plus there is a shortcuts bar on the home screen where you can place up to 15 icons to gain quick access to important functions.
The CorbyTXT B3210 is equipped with calendar that offers such a great number of options that we consider it flamboyant. There is a great calculator that many youngsters will certainly come to rely on in their physics and calculus classes.
The texting capabilities of the CorbyTXT are great. Correspondence gets visualized in threaded style, which is quite handy and saves time. The handset allows for email communication and finds all relevant settings automatically in the case of accounts registered with popular service providers, but cannot display messages in full HTML. The presence of push support makes up for the latter, to an extent, and is a handy extra feature indeed.
The games that come preloaded are entertaining, especially the Crazy Penguin Catapult and it´s a crying shame that none of them is a full version. The lack of social network integration is another major shortcoming of the CorbyTXT S3210 and all you get is simple shortcuts to the mobile pages of Facebook and MySpace. What´s even worse, however, is that web surfing is far from a truly enjoyable experience – we didn’t encounter any issues with less complex websites, but the CorbyTXT restarts by itself and without a warning on attempts to open heavier pages like cnn.com. Moreover, it lacks support for 3G and Wi-Fi.
We haven’t mentioned the CorbyTXT B3210 is equipped with 2-megapixel camera yet, have we? Well, now you know. Alongside of what you see in phone menus, the camera interface looks downright antiquated, because it doesn’t feature even a single colourful element. Still, it is simple and really easy to use. Snapshot quality is suitable for social networks, but low if you browse pictures on a normal computer screen. The videos are nothing to write home about, not that we expected more anyway, given the maximum video capture resolution is 176x144 pixels and the average frame count - 15.
One of the extra features of the Samsung CorbyTXT B3210 is the presence of a 3.5mm jack. The phone comes boxed with a pretty cool stereo headset that offers above average audio playback quality, but there is surely room for improvement here. Fortunately, you can always plug in a better pair. The CorbyTXT is equipped with loudspeaker that delivers surprisingly proper sound quality for an affordable handset. If you get bored with the music you´ve transferred to the phone, you can switch over to the FM radio with RDS.
In a nutshell, the Samsung CorbyTXT B3210 is a youthful device with simple, but entertaining interface. Our unit is intended for the Italian carrier TIM and there are certain, albeit minor differences to the unlocked, SIM-free version. Since the CorbyTXT doesn’t sport a touch-sensitive screen, it doesn’t run the motley TouchWiz interface, but the manufacturer has managed to remain true to the overall idea. Just like the other members of the Corby family, the handset features several themes that give the interface a truly colourful appearance, plus there is a shortcuts bar on the home screen where you can place up to 15 icons to gain quick access to important functions.
The CorbyTXT B3210 is equipped with calendar that offers such a great number of options that we consider it flamboyant. There is a great calculator that many youngsters will certainly come to rely on in their physics and calculus classes.
The texting capabilities of the CorbyTXT are great. Correspondence gets visualized in threaded style, which is quite handy and saves time. The handset allows for email communication and finds all relevant settings automatically in the case of accounts registered with popular service providers, but cannot display messages in full HTML. The presence of push support makes up for the latter, to an extent, and is a handy extra feature indeed.
The games that come preloaded are entertaining, especially the Crazy Penguin Catapult and it´s a crying shame that none of them is a full version. The lack of social network integration is another major shortcoming of the CorbyTXT S3210 and all you get is simple shortcuts to the mobile pages of Facebook and MySpace. What´s even worse, however, is that web surfing is far from a truly enjoyable experience – we didn’t encounter any issues with less complex websites, but the CorbyTXT restarts by itself and without a warning on attempts to open heavier pages like cnn.com. Moreover, it lacks support for 3G and Wi-Fi.
We haven’t mentioned the CorbyTXT B3210 is equipped with 2-megapixel camera yet, have we? Well, now you know. Alongside of what you see in phone menus, the camera interface looks downright antiquated, because it doesn’t feature even a single colourful element. Still, it is simple and really easy to use. Snapshot quality is suitable for social networks, but low if you browse pictures on a normal computer screen. The videos are nothing to write home about, not that we expected more anyway, given the maximum video capture resolution is 176x144 pixels and the average frame count - 15.
One of the extra features of the Samsung CorbyTXT B3210 is the presence of a 3.5mm jack. The phone comes boxed with a pretty cool stereo headset that offers above average audio playback quality, but there is surely room for improvement here. Fortunately, you can always plug in a better pair. The CorbyTXT is equipped with loudspeaker that delivers surprisingly proper sound quality for an affordable handset. If you get bored with the music you´ve transferred to the phone, you can switch over to the FM radio with RDS.
The most important advantages of the CorbyTXT are, without doubt, its affordable price tag and appealing overall look. For a device in this class, it offers proper texting and relatively decent audio playback capabilities. What you hear during calls is loud, but rather sharp voices that tend to get monotonous at times. The situation is slightly better on the other end of the line, but as a whole, the in-call quality is a tad below average.
What are the odds of youngsters getting at their parents over the Samsung CorbyTXT B3210 until they finally get what they want? Pretty decent actually, not to mention we won´t be surprised to see adults give in to the temptation as well. The new Samsung´s device is really worth it, but faced a tough opponent, the LG GW300 that is currently available at pretty much the same price, sports larger screen and keyboard buttons, but feels cheap and comes with less youthful design.
Samsung CorbyTXT B3210 Video Review:
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