The UK Mobile Phone Blog

Say hello to the Samsung B3310

You’ve got to take your hat off to LG; the mobile phone manufacturer really knows how to target the youth market when releasing a new phone. Take the LG Cookie, a phone that has literally sold millions (5 million to be precise) with LG clearly recognising that young folk don’t necessarily need Wi-Fi or smartphone functionality. Likewise with the LG KS360, a phone that resembles the Sidekick craze that still has teens and pre-teens in the USA hooked. The KS360 is stripped of all the fancy stuff and instead focuses on messaging with a slide out QWERTY keyboard and full support for email and instant messaging - exactly what youngsters want. And it seems LG’s fellow Korean manufacturer Samsung have cottoned on as they plan to release their answer to the KS360. Let’s take a closer look at the Samsung B3310.

The first thing you’ll notice is; it’s Pink. Before you run for the hills, take a look at the images throughout this post and you’ll see that rather than a bright garish pink, Samsung have opted for a soft, subtle pink which is used to outline the display which itself is dressed in black and also brings a bit of flair to the slide out QWERTY keyboard. On the back, the B3310 sports a silver battery cover with a pink circle outlining the camera lens. The size and weight of the phone are great feeling nice and comfortable in hand. The first thing you’ll notice about the design of the B3310 is the alpha numeric keypad. Rather than sitting below the screen, it runs in a single column along the length of the phone. The idea behind this is so that the number keys sit above the keyboard to better recreate a PC or laptop keyboard. This wont be to everyones tastes but does give the phone a unique look and feel. As for the keyboard, the keys are nicely spaced out, there’s a good level of feedback and the space bar is in the middle where it should be (did you hear that Nokia?).

Away from the design, the B3310 features everything you’d expect from an entry level phone. A 2.0 Megapixel camera on the back takes good still images (though unfortunately lacks a flash) and also captures video. Bluetooth v2.0 offers the usual selection of wireless connectivity options including pairing to a compatible wireless headset to stream music. And while we’re on the subject of music, the B3310 has a built in MP3 player and FM radio as well as expandable memory (microSD) so you can store all your music on the phone. Samsung have also jumped on the social networking bandwagon. At the bottom of the home screen we find a Symbian style shortcut scroll bar which holds shortcuts for Facebook and MySpace giving you one click access to your profile where you can perform all the usual activities like messaging friends and updating your status. Probe further you’ll also find shortcuts for photo sharing sites such as Flickr and Photobucket.

So, a social networking phone with a slide out QWERTY keyboard; what more could the youth of today need in a new mobile phone? Set for release in mid-September, click here to sign up for updates and we’ll let you know as soon as the Samsung B3310 is available to order.