There’s nothing new, in one sense, with this phone. The design of the slide out QWERTY keyboard is something that is becoming more popular, and more commonplace these days, as is the inclusion of a touchscreen. In fact, from Samsung this is fast becoming the default, with a large percentage of their handsets touch enabled, and Samsung are probably the leading manufacturer of touch devices right now.

Closer inspection of the spec of the Samsung B3410 shows that this handset is in fact a lower end, mid range product, and will probably be very competitively priced on the prepay market. The TFT touchscreen supports up to 256,000 colours, meaning that legibility in direct sunlight shouldn’t be as much of an issue as on other handsets. The display measures in at 2.6 inches, which is a good size for a phone and overall the phones measures in at 102 x 53 x 16mm, weighing 114g.

Where the B3410 isn’t strong, and where its low end status becomes apparent, is in its lack of connectivity. There’s no HSDPA, no Mobile Broadband, there isn’t even any 3G. It does have class 10 GPRS and EDGE, so web browsing on mobile specific sites shouldn’t be too much of an issue, but downloads should be avoided here. Due to the lack of connectivity, the B3410 is a prime candidate for using Opera Mini; Opera Mini offers excellent web browsing options for low end devices that lack 3G, so would be a real bonus on the B3410.

Imaging is also an area where the B3410 suffers, shipping with a 2.0 Megapixel camera. This point n shoot camera is more designed for fun, so people who are more serious about imaging on their phone need to be looking at other devices.

But there is a market for this device, and it lies with the young, mid to late teens, who like to keep in touch with their friends on the move via social networking, without having to pay a premium to do so. And this explains the inclusion of a QWERTY keyboard on such a low end device – the Samsung B3410 has integrated support for a host of sites, including Facebook, Picasa, Flickr, MySpace and so on. You wouldn’t really want to be viewing friend’s pictures they may have just uploaded, due to the lack of 3G, but messaging is definitely in.

The B3410 does have some media features worth mentioning – an MP3 player which will also play MP4 videos, plus an FM radio. Bluetooth 2.1 is included, which supports wireless audio connectivity, plus allows files and images to be transferred between devices at close range.

So, overall, the Samsung B3410 does serve a purpose, and will surely appeal to its target market. It is a smart looking device, available in a classy looking black colour, with a solid, if unexciting feature set. No official release date as yet, watch this space for updates.

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Date: Nov 16th, 2009 · Comments RSS · Tags: Manufacturers · Mobile Phone News · Samsung