Samsung Galaxy 3 I5800 Preview

Introduction:

Android keeps gaining popularity and followers throughout the cell phone industry and manufacturers are falling over backwards to come up with new smartphones utilizing the operating system. Unlike the Galaxy and Galaxy Spica, the Samsung Galaxy 3 I5800comes with major software personalization, mostly due to TouchWiz 3.0. What we´ve got in our hands is an early prototype, meaning this preview cannot be conclusive and fully indicative of the capabilities of the final, retail product. Still, it allows us to take a sneak peak and find out what we are to expect.

As for the hardware specifications of the new member of team Android, well, they will probably fail to make eager high-tech fans scream with joy, because the device features a 3-inch capacitive screen, 3-megapixel camera, accelerometer, Wi-Fi, 3G, GPS, FM radio and 3.5mm headphone jack.

Design:

The Samsung I5800 looks differently from the other Android-based models of the manufacturer on the market today. The handset comes with simpler, yet elegant shapes and daintier design alongside of the Galaxy I7500 and Galaxy Spica I5700.



Aside from the 5-directional D-pad, there are four touch-sensitive keys that also utilize capacitive technology below the 3-inch display of the Samsung Galaxy 3 I5800. They are properly backlit, but there is simply no way you can tell the buttons are actually there if the backlighting is off. Quite a stylish solution indeed, although most people will find out there is a certain learning curve getting used to their precise positions, in case their hardware implementation remains unaltered of course.



We mentioned that the overall look of the handset is elegantly simple. There are almost no fancy design elements to catch your eye or get you distracted. There are just two buttons on either side of the device, the volume rocker and power on/off and the microUSB port and 3.5mm headphone jack are located next to the latter.

The loudspeaker is on the back side, along with the 3-megapixel camera without flash.

Interface and Functionality:

Our prototype of the Samsung Galaxy 3 I5800 utilizes Android 2.0 (Éclair), but we hope retail units of the smartphone will be equipped with the latest OS version.  As we said, the Samsung I5800 comes with a customized user interface, TouchWiz 3.0, along with quite a few pre-installed applications.

The menuat the top of the screen (can be dragged) allows you to control the Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and silent mode functions, as well as take a look at missed events and unread messages. Finally, this is where the audio player gets visualized when running in the background.

The home screen of our prototype I5800 consists of seven pages, although we just don´t know whether or not the number is to be retained. There are four icons at the bottom of the screen that provide access to the main and dialing menus, the phone contacts and messaging. The main menu itself is quite different from the standard one typical of Android, because it´s divided into several pages and is no longer a vertically scrollable list.




Aside from the visual eye-candies and colorful icons of Samsung´s personalized interface, the I5800 comes with SNS (Social Network Service) support, just like the LG GW620, Pop, etc. It enables you to synchronize your contacts with relevant information about them from various social networks. It´s also what the preinstalled application Write and Go relies on in order to give you the option to simultaneously update your Facebook, MySpace and Twitter status.



Media Browser takes advantage of the phone's SNS support as well. This is actually a gallery that, except for the available images, allows for browsing of yours and your friends´ Facebook and MySpace picture galleries.



No matter the text entry mode, you are able to type away with Swype, the new text entry method that allows for entering words by sliding your finger over the necessary letters.



The browser also permits Swipe-entry of web addresses, which is certainly not among the standard text input methods of Android. The application supports multitouch and features tabs. Flash is unavailable on our prototype, but we would be happy if the final units support it.

Camera and Multimedia:

All previous models of Samsung for the European and Asian markets lack whatever camera interface personalization. The situation is, however, different in the case of the I5800 – you can take your pick from several effects, scenes and other settings, which is a definite plus. The pictures below give you a general idea of the image quality that the 3-megapixel camera delivers, although we would rather advise you not to draw final conclusions based on them.



Samsung´s magic penetrates the audio and video players and their interface is in the manufacturer´s typical styling. Similarly to the Galaxy Spica I5700, the I5800 supports DivX and Xvid files. Despite the fact that our unit is an early prototype, the handset plays videos with resolution of 720x480 pixels and high bitrate without a hitch.



Expectations:

With the Samsung Galaxy 3 I5800, the manufacturer demonstrates its own vision as to how Android should be personalized, relying on TouchWiz 3.0 to do the trick. Moreover, the I5800 features SNS support, so it can compete with the LG GW620 and Motorola QUENCH for the hearts of eager social networking fans. Unlike the latter, however, the I5800 is more elegant and this makes it stand out from the crowd, because truly stylish Android-handsets are still rare on the market. Will it be successful? Well, the answer heavily depends on two major factors – the seamless integration of the personalization pack and its ability to properly utilize the hardware and, of course, the particular price the device will roll out at.