Samsung Corby TXT review

Samsung bolstered its presence into the Indian mobile phone domain with Samsung Star 3G and the company further reinvented itself with the launch of Samsung Corby series devices.

Samsung Corby was an instant hits among the young generation, which prompted the company to launch a fleet of Corby series handsets. The Corby series devices included Samsung Corby Pro, Samsung Corby Pop and the Samsung Corby Plus.

Samsung B3210 Corby TXT is a budget handset much like its stablemate in many respects. It's small, it's cheap and it also features the interchangeable backplates that became one of the Samsung Corby's leading draws for younger fans.

Designed to provide more comfort to the frequent texters, Samsung Corby TXT offers a full QWERTY keyboard, easy-to-use SMS and IM features along with social media uploading functionality. It offers colourful fashion jackets and interchangeable panels like the earlier released Samsung Corby phone.

On paper, the the Corby TXT doesn't sound all that impressive. Its 2 megapixel camera is puny, the keyboard is cramped compared to a fully-fledged BlackBerry and it lacks 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity.

Like every budget phone though, the Genio Qwerty needs to be assessed within its coinage context. Take this onboard, and the Samsung Corby TXT turns into a surprisingly impressive device.

First, let's analyze the phone's main feature – the keyboard. Yes, it is small and relatively cramped – something that could have been improved by letting the keys expand out to the very edges of the phone’s body, but within minutes we found our speed and accuracy levels up to those achieved when using a decent virtual keyboard.

The contouring of each key helps out hugely on this front. With two thumbs on the keyboard, the whole thing is virtually obscured, but you can easily glide around without worrying about your limited view once you've gotten used to the layout, which doesn’t take too long.

Key placement is intuitive, working well with the standard two-thumbed approach. If you are genuinely big-fingered, we would question how wise choosing the Corby TXT is, but for its younger demographic, the keyboard is certainly sufficient. After all, we're fully grown and got on fairly well, although we'd recommend trying to get your hands on a device before buying to see if your digits can deal with the cramped conditions.

Plus, while we were happy using it, not letting the keyboard spread out a little more when it's the device's key feature seems like a possible mis-step. The key elements of this device include a 2 MP Camera, a 2.2-inch TFT LCD, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP and USB 2.0.

It comes with microSD card support, a 3.5 mm audio jack and FM Radio. The device offers loads of social networking and IM tools alsong with music player and Email support.

Another element that at first seems underpowered is the screen. At 2.2 inches, it doesn't fill the half of the fascia it inhabits, leaving a black border hanging around outside of its perimeter.

The resolution is fairly poor too – even budget phones tend to muster at least 240x320 these days, but the Corby TXT is stuck with 220x176. Yet again though, it doesn’t sound good, but once again it performs better similarly specc'd rivals.

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