Review: Samsung S3100. Easy on the Pocket

Overview:
Even though budget mobile phones are supposed to be easy on the pocket, that doesn’t mean you should have to make do with skeletal features on your mobile phone. The Samsung S3100 is bargain basement, but still has the ability to keep its owner interested. Let’s take a look at how it does that.

Review:
Samsung has shown that cheap doesn’t have to mean nasty, with the S3100 slider handset; and yes to answer your first question, it comes in either black or pink.

Available on plans starting at £10.00 per month from comparison site MobileShop.com, you can afford to chat away to your heart’s content, and still be able to buy a few rounds at the pub.

The S3100 has a great curvy look and feel, measuring in at a compact 95 x 47 x 14.9 mm.

Being a slider phone, there’s no chance of accidentally calling your ex-girlfriend, and the four-way circular control in the middle of the handset provides a unique way to access your menus.

Samsung has provided a 2.1 inch TFT screen for you with a decent 176 x 220 pixels. It’s not exactly HD, but it’s enough to scroll through your organiser.

To access all your bits and bobs, the shortcut screen lets you personalise up to 15 shortcuts in the main menu, so you can get to your picture gallery at the press of a button.

Feature-wise you do get a camera that will take stills and record video, though at a basic quality as can be expected.

Snapshots are taken at 1.3 megapixels, which is enough to take general photos, and if you already have a digital camera you don’t really need 10 megapixels in your handset.

To watch your movie masterpieces, the phone’s video player will play MP4/H.236/H.264 file formats.

The S3100 will keep you entertained between calls to your mum as well, with a music player and FM radio.

IF you have more CDs than Universal Music, you can boost your phone’s memory with a MicroSD card up to 8GB.

You do get the added bonus of installing your own java games, and you own personalised message alert tone, which were lacking options in earlier versions.

Another very nearly unique selling point, is BT messenger, which provides free instant messaging to other Samsung BT-enabled handsets.

Battery life on the S3100 is really quite impressive, providing 530 minutes of talk time, or 490 hours on standby.

All in all, Samsung’s S3100 is really a great entry-level phone. It’s dependable, looks great and comes with a proper round of features for your pound.

The Gaj-It Verdict:
Design: 7/10
Usability: 7/10
Features: 7/10
Value: 8/10

We Say:
The Samsung S3100 isn’t about being a flashy handset to tether to your Macbook- it’s a simple phone and it fulfills this end of the market well, still coming with a music and video player, camera, instant messaging and some options to personalise your phone. If you know someone who NEEDS a mobile but is bamboozeled by all the flashy shiny features on the market, start them off with the cheap and cheerful S3100.

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