Reviews and tests | Samsung i560 Review

The second family member, i550, faces a similar situation, being accented on navigation. Nokia N82 occupies a higher line so no direct competition is possible between the two due to the later's possession of a 5 Mp camera and a Wi-Fi module despite the numerous possible parallels. So this one is another interesting offer that can find its way to success if the release dates are accurately met and the advertising backup is massive enough - it's up to Samsung to win the customers' loyalty to their once unpopular smartphone products.

The third handset in the series is the i560 model, which in essense is a simplified i550 sporting another form factor, numerous characteristics are virtually the same with the two. Its market niche is above that of i550, the slider form factor being on Samsung's priority list, and the difference in design is also quite perceptible. But in terms of functionality i550 seems to have the upper hand in the competition, yet this is to be discussed a bit later. The price of the two models is roughly the same, but which one is a better option remains a question open to the customer. On the one hand, the slider has better looks, on the other i550 isn't that hackneyed as well and features some really innovative solutions, being the top Samsung PDA phone, after all. The current market situation makes Nokia 6110 Navigator a rival to i560, the former having a slightly lower price, but its camera is accordingly weaker.

Initially Samsung i560 wasn't meant to be a mass product, the phone was planned for a limited Vodafone issue, while the role of the mass model was destined to i550, but the final decision was quite surprising: having revised their strategies, Samsung decided to give equal market freedom to the both. A wise step, since the more models are available, the larger is the consumer audience. Though i550 is still the most interesting solution from this product line, i560 is still worthy of equal attention.

The device's design bears some traits common with all Samsung sliders, the dimensions are rather compact, - feels definitely smaller than i450, - and the functionality is richer. Design is the primary aspect deserving attention as far as it goes to this model. Since i560 was designed as a fashion phone, it's really beatiful and inspires an atmosphere of elegance and harmony. The quality of materials is near to ideal likewise, the build quality is impecable. The device fits the hand like a glove, the soft-touch plastic of the back panel is a pleasure to touch. The overall design rating for i560 is ten points out of ten..

«The overall design rating for i560 is ten points out of ten.»

Samsung i560 is made of high-quality black plastic, the back panel and the side edges sport a soft-touch coating, the face panel is glossy. The whole body is enframed with a metal fringe which only adds to the handset's elegance. There are no alternate color variants available, but the default black is very becoming to the strict and stylish i560.

The element arrangement is quite standard, the control elements aren't too crowded. The screen occupies most of the face panel surface, it sports the regular 2,4'' size. Just above the screen resides the frontal camera lens used for video calls and the speaker protected with a metal grate.

The side surfaces are remarkable for the presence of the 3.5 mm standard headset jack, which is covered with a plastic flap. On the one hand, it secures some protection against damage but on the other, it is a discomforting factor while keeping the headset plugged, it would be better if it were replaced with a replaceable gag. The location of the jack is rather beneficial for the ergonomics, the headset jack isn't discomforting in such a position. The polyphonic speaker and the profile switch button are placed just nearby. The latter is sunk into the surface, which eliminates the possibility of stray keystrokers. On the right edge sits the brand headset socket which is also used for the data cable, and the camera launch button. Talking in advance, let's noe that if you have two devices plugged to both the brand and standard sockets at the same time, the priority goes to the brand jack. The left side hosts the volume rocker and the microSD memory card slot. The maximum card capacity supported by the phone is 4Gb, as stated by the manufacturer. The four holes around serve for fastening the handset in the car holder during GPS sessions.

Samsung i560 comes with a 2,4'' screen (36x48 mm) which is powered by the TFT technology and is up to displaying some 262K colors. The screen resolution is standard, that's 240x320 pixels. The screen size is the same with Nokia N81, so it's interesting to compare the quality to that of the closest competitor. As you see, both are comparable in most aspects. Nokia retains a slight advantage since its screen has a bit more brightness to it, the colors are slightly more natural, and the view angles are broader.

There's enough screen space space for 12 lines of text to be displayed simultaneously. The mirror backing of the screen allows for the screen information to stay legible even in direct sunlight. The overall quality of the screen is high enough not to raise even the slightest objection. The screen fonts are big and clear-cut enough as well as the phone numbers. A frontal camera for video calls is situated just above the screen.

The numerical keypad used in the device is quite standard, it's a solid plastic piece, the buttons are quite comfortable due to their large size. The keypad of Nokia N81 has the same design, for example. The backlighting is of a white color.

The controls block is also very comfortable, the buttons are arranged with enough space between to pose no trouble. The two soft buttons are made of transparent plastic, the rest of keys sports the same color with the handset. There's a dedicated button for launching the music player or the radio (a prompt pops up once you press this button). In comparison with the controls of i550, it's clearly seen that the ergonomics is much better in the case of i560 - we had plenty of stray keystrokes while testing the i550 model.

The model utilizes a Li-Ion 1000 mAh battery. No reinforced battery type is provided for this handset, but the regular one is just enough for the majority of users, the capacity is quite up to the level of most similar devices available on the market right now. The device is able about two days of moderate duty cyclle (an hour of talk time, up to two hours of listening to the player and radio, an hour of menu and application work). That's quite a fair result for a smartphone. A full recharge cycle takes about 2,5 hours. Samsung i550 has a 1200 mAh battery, so the real life difference between the two is roughly a few hours and isn't that large at all.

Besides the three GSM bands (900/1800/1900) there’s also support for EDGE (Class 10) and the third generation network support DCDMA 2100 as well as HSDPA with a maximum speed of 3,6 mpbs. Thus Samsung i450 sports great communicative telecom qualities, the only thing that’s actually missing is the support of the fourth GSM band. Wireless communication capabilities include Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR. The Bluetooth functionality is at a high level, it neither lags nor it brings any bugs or crashes, options include the activation status (on/off), the recent devices list, the Bluetooth visibility status, the visibility period setting, device name and the rest of standard parameters. All the services are quite typical of a S60 smartphone as well.

Wire communications include USB 2.0, but the actual data transfer speed isn’t as high as it sounds. The Mass Storage mode is fully supported, as well as synchronization with Media Player and PC Studio. One of the modes can be simply selected as the one used by default, or be specified upon every PC connection.

Contacts, Calendar, Notes and Messages can be synchronized with the PC, the synchronization is possible in either direction between the PC and the smartphone.

The biggest drawback of i560 is the lack of Wi-Fi, this restricts the functionality in a very big way. Wi-Fi is the worldwide accepted standard for the mid-end and hi-end smartphones, every new Nokia has it, just as well as the closest competitor N81. The presense of Wi-Fi is especially important for musical solutions, for instance the very mentioned N81 uses that technology to broadcast audio to third party audio reproduction systems (the Home Media feature), or just to download music from the local network. No signs of an IrDA port were discovered either, so the only means of wireless communication remains the Bluetooth protocol. To crown it all, TV-out is also missing, which is quite strange against the background of the latest Samsung handsets all coming with one.

«The biggest drawback of i560 is the lack of Wi-Fi, this restricts the functionality in a very big way.»

Samsung i560 is based off the same hardware as its close relative i550 and has only a few differences from the younger i450 model. All the previous S60 smartphones by Samsung (i520, i400, i550, i560, i570) were based off TI OMAP 2430 while i450 makes use of OMAP 2431. What's the principal difference? It's all only about the lack of a hardware 2D/3D graphics accelerator, nothing more. The previous model of the OMAP CPU familey, 2420, which is used as a base for a multitude of hi-end Nokia models (N93, N95, E90, N82) come with a graphics accelerator, which has seen but a limited use in the Samsung phones, so the lack of such is quite justified for the i450 music phone.

This hardware platform was thoroughly reviewed in the Samsung i450 review, so we kindly ask you to refer to that article for further details on this topic. The only thing we'd like to repeat here is that it's the OMAP 2430 chipset (and the TWL4030 chip in particular) that raise the audio capabilities of i560 to a theoretically equal level with i450. This has come to be a rule that all the latest Samsung phones come with same audio hardware, - being true for smartphones and casual phones alike, - regardless of positioning. The Samsung F330 revew mentioned that its audio functionality was just the same with the fashion handset U600, for instance. However, the story takes a very specific turn in the case of i560 - sporting the same audio hardware doesn't absolutely always mean the same audio functionality, which will be explained further.

The overall strategy of Samsung in this field seems to be rather well-orchestrated, the OMAP 2430 offers a high performance, quality sound processing algorithms that eliminate any need in additional sound processing hardware components, a relatively low power consumption rate and the optimal functionality/size/price ration. The Freescale platform is still a very perspective direction for future developments, it belongs to a different class and is even smaller and cheaper, which makes it a perfect solution for compact mid-end phones without not focusing on any particular aspect of functionality like quality 3D graphics, high performance or refined camera shots.

As we have already mentioned, the performance of i450 keeps on a level with the rest of Samsung smartphones, the difference with Freescale is in favor of the latter, the performance of Samsung devices is relatively lower, but the difference isn't critical in this case. All the application launch almost instantly, no delays or lags were spotted. The speed is comparable with Nokia N81. Of course, the 3D test results are much less impressive as compared to what Nokia N95 can do, but that's naturally explained by the lack of a graphics accelerator

One of the latest versions of the Symbian OS is used to power the phone - 9.2, S60v3 FP1. There’s no support for Fast Boot, but even the standard boot time isn’t too long - 20 seconds.

The size of free user memory amounts to 86 Mb, the total RAM size is 116 which is quite all right for a modern smartphone. Similar to the rest of devices based on the third revision of the S60 platform, the applications are terminated upon pressing the power off button, minimizing is done by pressing the Menu button. The heap size and the maximum Jar size are unlimited. The amount of onboard user memory equals to 25 Mb.

«The size of free user memory amounts to 86 Mb, the total RAM size is 116 which is quite all right for a modern smartphone»

In terms of software platform, Samsung i560 is nearly identical to similar Nokia products, as we have already noted the platform was licensed from the Finnish manufacturer. There is no observable difference between this one and, say, Nokia 6120 - save for a number of additional minor functions. Samsung i550 was developed at the R&D Suwon centre and is based off the Quallcomm MSM6260 chipset, the software part is exactly the S60 Feature Pack I, that’s the latest platform version for any existing or announced phone on the market. The difference between this revision and the previous ones are very minor, including the OS-level support for the A2DP Bluetooth profile, HSDPA, an updated S60 Web Browser, the Freescale CPU support. As it was mentioned, there are to product lines based on the S60 platform: the ones utilizing the Freescale chipset which are known for a low development cost and fast performance yet lack functional variety and the more sophisticated TI OMAP 2420/2430 that comes with a 2D/3D graphics accelerator. The interface performance as well as the time taken to perform all the typical tasks is comparable for both chipsets, though Samsung refrains from implementing Freescale even in inexpensive products.

The menu structure is quite standard for the majority of S60 devices, nothing very fascinating a new here on this side - save for the unexplained absence of the two additional viewmodes, the only two that were left are the standard List and Grid. The drawing and animation time is close to instant. The menu icons aren’t animated. The upper right corner of every menu item depending if it’s a subfolder shortcut or an end function, a semi-circular symbol is displayed if the corresponding application is run in the background.

The Go-To mode first appeared with S60 devices by Nokia and it made its way to Samsung products as well. From five to eight different applications depending on the screen resolution and orientation, listing today’s calendar events, mp3 player current stats - that’s what the Go-To mode offers. Some of the phones based off S60v3 Feature Pack 1 use an updated, more functional version of the Go-To mode, the main difference being the ability of the user to customize which applications should submit their current stats to the display. So far only the latest business-class phones by Nokia make use of this feature, namely the ones comprised under the E-series trademark, and our Samsung i550 apparently doesn’t fall under that category.

The Go-To mode can be turned off should the user decide so. By default the Go-To mode presents a line of icons granting quick access to a total of 6 applications that can be viewed simultaneously, the number of shortcuts is limited and you can’t scroll along the shortcut panel. Both preinstalled and 3rd party applications can be given shortcuts on the panel, that comes in very handy for such user-installed applications like mobile ICQ clients and so on.

In addition to the Go-To mode, Samsung i560 possesses an exclusive expansion not found in any of Nokia’s phones: a specific plugin that lets the user list up to six speed dial shortcuts on the desktop during standby. The speed dial bar (or the larger 'call pictures', if those are set) is found just below the application shortcut bar. Once you select an icon, it's automatically magnified and the person's name is shown nearby. On activating the icon, the user sees a small menu where they can select between making a voice call or sending a text message. The feature is very useful, we think Nokia won't miss adding it in their future Eseries handsets.

«In addition to the Go-To mode, Samsung i560 possesses an exclusive expansion not found in any of Nokia’s phones»

Just at the bottom of the screen there’s the Google Search toolbar. Anything typed in it will immediately bring up a browser window with the Google Search results for the word you typed.

Different products based on the FP1 revision may vary in menu contents and icon arrangement which isn’t a big matter after all since the user can customize the order of icons and menu elements to his liking any moment he wants.

Samsung i560 comes with 3 preinstalled themes and supports any number of 3rd party themes designed for the third revision of S60. There's an option to select a screensaver which can look either like the date and time indicator (by default) or an animation (each preinstalled theme has a unique one). The animated screensaver needs the following features to be specified: the backlighting interval and the playing time, it stands to reason that both parameters should be set equal.

Similar to the rest of S60 devices, this model supports voice navigation without any learning stage, the device automatically adapts to the user's voice, however this can be switched off if the device is used by several people. In Samsung i560 the voice navigation was vastly improved, the dedicated VSuite application offers a variety of settings and tweaks for the voice control feature. The application is opened by holding the 0 button pressed.

«In Samsung i560 the voice navigation was vastly improved, the dedicated VSuite application offers a variety of settings and tweaks for the voice control feature»

Upon launching the application you have to speak out the desired action: phone call (contact name or number), message (contact name or number), find a contact or launch an application. In the latter case a list of recently launched applications is displayed, which can also be navigated through with voice commands.

The application’s functionality appears to be more advanced as compared to similar applications that come with analogous Nokia smartphones, a lot of additional info on the subject is available at www.voicesignal.com

The contact book is among the most powerful features of S60-based smartphones. Almost no difference can be observed on this front as compared to earlier versions. Some slight changes in the information field layout and visual effects are the only thing that makes a difference in this FP1-based firmware. The number of contact records is only limited to the amount of free user memory, which is quite typical of almost every smartphone. There are three types of fields for phone numbers, video calls, IP-phone numbers, fax numbers, e-mail address, web address, mail addresses and a single type of field for pager number, first and last name, note and date. Only one Name/Last name and Birthday record can be set per contact, but the rest of the fields can be ‘cloned’ as many times as you wish. The mail address field includes seven subfields. The Symbian’s field renaming feature is quite expectedly included in the phonebook service. Not only the phone number, but as well the e-mail address, video call number, SMS, MMS and PPT contacts can be set as standard. The PhotoID service stays same with previous versions, so you might want to look for a 3rd party application since Nokia sticks to their purposely limiting this functionality. The very word ‘thumbnail’ is just enough to ascribe the deal. A contact can be associated with a VideoID clip that would play every time this person calls you over the phone. The priority is given to the VideoID should a contact have both a picture and a video associated. The ringtone will be completely replaced with the video soundtrack, which to some would appear annoying. Only .mp4 files can be used by the VideoID function.

The integrated voice synthesizer can pronounce the name of the person who are calling you. First a ringtone is played once, then the name is pronounced and the ringtone follows again in an endless loop. The only thing you need to use it is to activate it. The same synthesizer is used for voice dialing - so you don’t have to leave voice marks, only the contact name needs to be spoken out for the dialing to start. The accuracy of recognition is rather high, in most cases it works without any need to repeat things twice. However in a very noisy environment you might happen to be forced to. There’s nothing much special about the quick dialing option.

The call logs are organized just as in the previous versions: Incoming, Dialed and Missed calls are displayed on the three respective lists, no uniform list comprising the three kinds is available, unfortunately. Switching between the lists is done by pressing the navigation button sideways. The maximum period of time for which call information can be stored is one month, which can be further customized to ten or one day. A number of filters can be applied to the call log, each call event can be viewed separately with all the detailed information.

Samsung i560 supports SMS, MMS and E-mail messaging. No outstanding features were added to the traditional functionality, which can hardly be seen as a sad thing since everything essential is already present as part of the platform: templates, T9, drafts, expansion storage (SMS and MMS alike). Text input is quite usual, switching between languages is done from a context menu or with the , button, the rest of the functions operated with the dedicated Edit button in the 6120c were associated with the # button in Samsung i560 - the caps lock, numeric/alphabet switch, text copy/paste.

Switching between received, sent and other kinds of messages is done by pressing the joystick or the navigation button sideways, it’s quite comfortable and eliminates the necessity to get back to the messages menu every time now and again, the tabs representing each category of messages are shown in a row at the top of the screen. Messages can be sorted by date, sender, subject and the type of the message itself. You can move messages between folders and create an unlimited number of custom folder inside the My Folder directory.

The delivery notices are stored separately, they can be discarded both one by one or by the whole stock. The user can specify if they want the delivery notes to be sent both for MMS and SMS messages or any one of the two kinds.

The MMS service is comfortable, the maximum message size is limited to 300 Kb, an image, an audio clip (talk record) and a video clip can be attached to the message. MMS options include the image size setting - original, small and large. The message text can either precede or follow the multimedia content. The address field isn’t just limited to a single line of text, it also optionally contains the Topic and Carbon Copies field.

Upon creating an MMS message the context menu offers to compose a slide show. Should the user agree, a total of four templates are displayed - Image (image slides), Video (video snapshot slides, Thumbnails (pairs of two), and Headers (each slide is shown with a text header). The templates are easy to handle, allowing for creation of impressive animated messages.

The e-mail client supports the SMTP/POP3/IMAP4 protocols. Upon creating a new mailbox a special wizard is launched, automating the process to the point where it becomes totally easy even for an inexperienced user. Some of the fields are filled autmatically, tips are displayed during each step, the only thing that is directly required from the user is to specify the mailbox and server type.

The following e-mail protocols are supported:

E-mail Samsung i560


POP3	+
IMAP4	+
SMTP	+
SSL	+ (3.0)
TLS	+ (1.0)
OTA E-Mail Settings Configuration	+
Push E-mail	EMN OMA 1.0

Scheduled e-mail checks are supported, three modes for downloading mail to the smartphone are available: headers only, full messages or full messages with attachments. The volume of downloaded information can also be limited to a specified number of incoming messages, or alternatively, all of them can be downloaded upon every e-mail check.

Voice messages are supported: the text field is substituted with a large icon, the activation of which will bring up the voice recorder interface and the recording begins immediately. After recording the message, the maximum length of which is limited to two and a half minutes, the icon changes its looks. If you want to record the message again, you can delete the previously recorded one from the message by pressing the C button.

The personal information manager comprises a number of applications including: Measures and Currencies Converter, Notes, Voice Recorder and Calculator. The converter and calculator are quite standard applications found on many phones based off the same platform: the convertor acts in full accordance with its name, converting a selected currency or measure into another kind, the calculator is very primitive and only supports the very basic arithmetic.

The alarm clock has quite a number of settings as compared to what we had with pre-FP1 devices. Besides a one-time signal, the alarm clock supports a schedule on a weekday basis, the signals can be one-time and recurring, it’s possible to set a signal to be played once a week or daily, on a specified weekday only, on workdays or on weekends. Although the application doesn’t allow to configure a signal to be played on a manually selected number of days, limiting the user to the options listed above. There’s an option to set any weekday save for Sunday as a workday. Any custom ringtone can be used for an alarm clock signal.