Live photos of the Samsung F330

Table of contents:

1. Positioning
2. Design, size, controls
3. Display
4. Keypad
5. Battery
6. USB, Bluetooth, connectivity
7. Memory, memory cards
8. Performance
9. Camera
10. Menu
11. Applications
12. WAP
13. MP3-player
14. Impressions

Sales package

• Handset
• Battery
• Wired stereo-headset
• USB data cable
• Software CD
• microSD memory card (1Gb, size and availability vary by region)
• User Guide

Positioning

The second device in the BeatZ line-up, unlike the Samsung i450, makes use of a standard hardware platform and Suwon’s software for 3G terminals. In fact, this is the good old Samsung G800 yet coming in a different wrapping and with a new camera. Also stemming from this is the fact that the F330’s sound quality is no different from the G800 or the U600, for it employs the same hardware solution, so you won’t hear much of a difference when using one and the same pair of earphones with these handsets.

The only reason why the F330 saw release is that they needed to start the new music-heavy line-up with something. This way, over at Samsung they thought a mid-range phone with a knack for playing music should be pretty much standard, and so they didn’t put much effort into it. And the line taken by the manufacturer is rather straightforward – if music is the main focus, then the phone should come in a white iPod-esque casing and with a pair of decent earphones in the box. However what they rolled is in fact neither fish nor fowl.

While it packs all the traits of the U-series, it also retains a youth-aimed design, putting it in one league with less expensive offerings. The handset’s positioning is centered on music alone and the range of music-savvy devices. But does this range really exist, or it hasn’t gone beyond the company’s roadmap? Essentially, three members of the line-up are way too different to suppose that someone will actually be making a choice between them. The future sales of the F330 don’t look promising at all either. Its predecessors housed in the same form-factor have already proven this point – being not a fashion-savvy phone, the Samsung F330 can’t withstand the competition of Samsung’s own solutions. And those consumers looking to get a top-notch sonic experience are very likely to go for the Samsung i450.

All this means the only purpose of the F330’s release is to create an illusion of choice – nobody expects this model to do summersaults, hence it has only one available color scheme (white).

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Design, size, controls

The handset comes in white plastic, no word on extra color schemes, and basically, they are very unlikely to appear. While the plastic on the F330 is glossy, it somewhat reminds us of, let’s be honest, not the best possible variation of Apple’s products.

The plastic is susceptible to scuffs, however you won’t spot any deep scratches on it at a glance. The mirror-like front fascia gets covered with grease and fingerprints in no time, so be ready to carry a cleaning cloth on you to keep your device in pristine condition.

Topping the display is the forward-facing camera for video calls. The headset jack sits on the left hand side (wide interface port) and is covered by a plastic flap. Right next to it is the volume rocker and the application switch key (just like on any 3G device, with the F330 you can toggle between messages, calls and browsers in one touch – looks like multi-tasking abilities, while in fact it is nowhere near it).

The right hand spine hosts the power button, the dedicated camera key and the microSD memory expansion slot. The lanyard eyelet is found on the bottom edge.

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