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Samsung S8300 UltraTOUCH (also called S8300 Tocco Ultra) a high end cell phone with a large touchscreen, 8 megapixel camera and plenty of other interesting features.

Overview:

The new Samsung S8300 UltraTOUCH is yet another iPhone-inspired mobile phone, yet it has something that the iPhone lack, namely an alphanumeric keypad. The Samsung phone features also 8 megapixel autofocus camera, built-in GPS receiver with A-GPS, accelerometer for screen auto rotation and preinstalled document viewer.

Samsung S8300 UltraTOUCH pros:
+ Commendable build quality
+ MicroSD card slot (up to 16 GB), 1 GB included
+ DivX/XviD video support
+ Stereo Bluetooth (A2DP)
+ Quad-band GSM and 3G with HSDPA support
+ 8 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash, geo-tagging, face and smile detection, image stabilization, wide dynamic range and D1 video@30 fps
+ 2.8″ 16M color AMOLED touchscreen display with 400 x 240 pixel resolution
+ Anti-scratch screen surface
+ Proximity sensor for auto screen turn-off

Samsung S8300 UltraTOUCH cons:
- Slowish user interface
- Limited options for third-party GPS navigation software
- Slow initializing of large microSD cards
- No virtual on-screen QWERTY keyboard
- No Wi-Fi connectivity

The design:

Samsung S8300 UltraTOUCH measures 110 x 51.5 x 12.7 mm and weighs 127 grams which might make it seem a bit to big, but you have to remember that it is a slider with an alphanumeric keyboard. The phone has an appealing design and is available in two different cases. The front of the cell phone is dominated by the 2.8” 16M color touchscreen covered by an anti-scratch surface. Below the screen you can see three buttons: Call and End, as well as Back button. You can also slide the phone open to see the alphanumeric keyboard which so many users still prefer to the touchscreens. Above the display is the earpiece and next to it the video camera and the ambient light sensor. The right side of Samsung S8300 UltraTOUCH features the camera key, display lock and the microUSB port, whereas the left side houses the volume rocker. Both the top and the bottom of the phone are completely bare. The back of the Samsung cell phone houses the 8 megapixel camera lens, LED flash and a self-portrait mirror.

Performance:

Samsung S8300 UltraTOUCH has no issues when it comes to making phone calls. The reception is good and so are the voices. The battery of Samsung S8300 UltraTOUCH is supposed to last for about 4 hours of talk time, or 350 hours of standby. The phone supports up to 16 GB memory cards and comes with a 1 GB memory card in the box.

Multimedia:

The Samsung S8300 UltraTOUCH is capable of sending all types of messages. Setting up an e-mail is not as easy as on the Nokia 5130 XpressMusic, or Nokia E75, but when you enter all the necessary information everything goes smoothly. What I liked about the Samsung S8300 UltraTOUCH is the fact that is supports up to 5 MB e-mail attachments and that is has a document viewer right out of the box.
The music player in Samsung S8300 UltraTOUCH does a really good job. You can sort tracks by author,  genre and album. There are a few equalizer presets, but you cannot add any new ones. The audio quality is very good and the player is optimized to work well with the touch-interface. Moreover, the Samsung S8300 UltraTOUCH has a radio with RDS, so there is relay little more you could expect.
The video player in Samsung S8300 UltraTOUCH supports both DivX and XviD videos which look really great on the large screen.
The 8 megapixel digital camera in Samsung S8300 UltraTOUCH can take photos in up to 3264 x 2448 pixels. The camera has plenty of interesting features and good lens thank to which the quality of images is really good. When it comes to video recording the Samsung cell phone does not disappoint. It can record in up to 720 x 480 resolution at 30 fps, or in QVGA resolution at 120 fps. The quality of videos is comparable to the quality of photos, which means it is really great.

Menus / ease of use:
The interface in the Samsung S8300 UltraTOUCH is visually appealing, customizable and generally well thought out. However, it has the annoying tendency to lag at times. Apart from that it seems that everything works fine. There are plenty of widgets to put on your homescreen, auto rotation and some nice animations. If it wasn’t for the lags the Samsung S8300 UltraTOUCH could easily compete with current leaders, such as for instance the iPhone.
Selected Samsung S8300 UltraTOUCH features and specifications:
Network

• GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
HSDPA 900 / 2100

Display

• OLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors,240 x 400 pixels, 2.8 inches

Memory

• microSD (TransFlash), up to 16GB, up to 4 GB, 80 MB built-in

Camera

• 8 MP, 3264×2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
Geo-tagging, face and smile detection, image stabilization, wide dynamic range, Video WVGA@30fps, Videocall camera

CPU

• No

OS/Platform

• proprietary

3G

• Yes, HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps

Features

• - Accelerometer sensor
- Proximity sensor for auto turn-off
- Scratch-resistant surface
-Stereo FM radio with RDSr
- GPS with A-GPS support; optional navigation software
- DviX/ XviD/ MPEG4/ H.263/ H.264/ WMV9 player
- MP3/AAC/WMA player
- Organizer
- Document viewer (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF)
- Voice memo/dial
- T9

Messaging

• SMS, MMS, Email

Data

• GPRS,HSCSD,EDGE, Bluetooth,USB

Battery

• Standard battery, Li-Ion 880 mAh
Stand-by Up to 350 h
Talk time Up to 4 h

Dimension

• 110 x 51.5 x 12.7 mm

Price

• About $500

Other recently reviewed cell phones:

Nokia 5130 XpressMusic, Nokia E75, Nokia 8800 Gold Arte, Sony Ericsson W508, BlackBerry Bold 9000, Sony Ericsson T707.