The Samsung Z320i is a slide-up design phone that offers both 3G and i-mode. i-mode is a replacement for WAP, and is a much better way of accessing the internet from a mobile phone.
It offers fast access to a range of websites and to e-mail. The Z320i is the first phone in the UK to offer both i-mode and 3G, offering the twin benefits of 3G video calling and fast internet access.
The Z320i is similar in specification to the Samsung S500i, except that it has 3G, making it one of the best-specified of the first i-mode phones.
However, the S500i has the advantage of a larger high quality screen and an expandable memory card.
It seems weird that the Z320i misses out on these features.
Despite that, the Z320i offers most things that you'd expect from a 3G mobile: video calling, a high-quality camera (although not the best available) and a stereo MP3 player, with the benefit of i-mode too.
It's also the first 3G phone to feature the popular slide design common to many of the newer Samsung phones. These are all good reasons to choose the Z320i.
Looking at the negatives now, the Z320i can be criticised for poor battery life and reception, but this is the same for all 3G phones and the Z320i is no worse than any other.
The i-mode features itself can be tricky to use at first, and some of our users have complained that it's all too easy to press the i button accidentally. Texting is also a bit slow.
These are the only real issues.
It's a shame that Samsung didn't use their best screen and didn't include a memory card - if these features had been included then we would have said that this was the best of the first i-mode phones and one of the best 3G phones too.
As it is, it's not the best, but it's still a nice phone with an interesting set of features.
Features of the Samsung Z320i include:
* 3G video calling
* 1.3 megapixel camera
* Video camera
* Display: 64,000 colours, 176 x 220 pixels
* 64-voice polyphonic ringtones / MP3 ringtones
* Stereo MP3 player with support for stereo Bluetooth headset
* Messaging: SMS, MMS, e-mail (i-mail)
* Java games
* Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB
* Memory: 100 Mbytes
* Quad band plus 3G
* Vibration alert
* Size: 97 x 48 x 23 mm
* Weight: 95g
* Talktime: up to 300 minutes
* Battery standby: 200 hours
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