| Korean mobile phone giant Samsung seems to be | | | | resolution and frame rates. |
| ending the year releasing affordable touchscreen | | | | Too bad, its great imaging feature gets watered |
| mobile phones like the S5230. This is followed with | | | | down by a mediocre display which, while |
| the release this November of its latest | | | | expansive at 3 inches, doesn't get the capacitive |
| touchscreen handset - the Samsung S5560 | | | | touchscreen technology and 16 million color depth |
| Marvel. Similar in body design, the two are offered | | | | of even mid-priced smartphones. It's just a |
| as budget phones but the latter does have a | | | | resistive touchscreen with 256k color depth that |
| slightly higher internal memory and is graced with | | | | puts it just a notch higher than Windows Mobile |
| an imaging features often reserved to high end | | | | touchscreens in the display department. You also |
| smartphones. | | | | get an accelerometer sensor for automatic |
| Orange has this ready for pre-order starting this | | | | landscape or portrait viewing as the handset is |
| month and you can have it for just 30 on a 12 | | | | oriented accordingly. |
| month contract. Not bad when you consider it's | | | | Competitive Features |
| still reasonably priced at EUR300 for the European | | | | The Samsung S5560 marvel has the features we |
| markets. | | | | expect from a decent mobile phone. This includes |
| At a Glance | | | | microSD support for up to 16GB on its rather |
| At a slim 107.5 x 52 x 13.2 mm weighing just 95g | | | | modest 78MB internal memory. Multimedia |
| the S5560 comes only in black and is one of the | | | | features include capable media players for audio, |
| lightest touchscreens out there to make it very | | | | video and image file formats that are popular out |
| pocketable. It's your basic quad band GSM | | | | there, a stereo FM radio with RDS and Bluetooth |
| handset you can use anywhere in the world. But | | | | 2.1 with A2DP for wireless stereo earphones as |
| it's not 3G. | | | | well as the industry standard 3.5mm headphone |
| You won't get HSDAP and HSUPA for blazing fast | | | | jack if you want to you're your high fidelity home |
| internet surfing and downloading. But you still get | | | | headset. |
| WiFi 802.11/b/g so you can take advantage of | | | | Its 960 mAh lithium-ion battery when fully charge |
| WiFi hotspots dotting the metropolis for high | | | | can deliver up to 9.5 hours of talk time and 650 |
| speed wireless internet access. You also get | | | | hours of standby time. There's also micro USB |
| Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR for local wireless data | | | | support. And as with most other Samsung mobile |
| transfers. | | | | phones, you get TouchWiz user interface on its |
| What puts the handset above the crowd is its 5.0 | | | | proprietary OS for seamless user-friendly handset |
| megapixel camera that has autofocus, LED flash, | | | | navigation. |
| image stabilization, smile and blink detection. This is | | | | At its price level, the S5560 is a competent |
| a high end feature you often find only in flagship | | | | mobile phone with strong and weak points. It is |
| models costing a lot more. But for an entry level | | | | strong in the imaging department as it brings high |
| touchscreen phone, it's a most welcome feature | | | | end camera features to the low end market. And |
| that should appeal to the crowd who looks for | | | | where it is weak, the handset delivers precisely |
| imaging features as a prime purchasing criteria for | | | | what can be expected at that price point. All in all, |
| mobile phones. Video recording is also supported | | | | its is a great gift idea for the holiday season. |
| though the data sheet is silent on the recording | | | | |