Rather reviewing Samsung's S8000 from the Press release, I've actually been putting the handset through its paces. Some interesting discoveries have resulted – including the fact that the GPS facility appears to be disabled in the UK version. The first thing that strikes you is the user interface. Given that I'm no great fan of the iPhone, the fact that the S8000 looks similar doesn't help. Anyone who assumes that a touch screen interface is always user-friendly would be seriously wrong. In the S8000's case, the UI can be described as powerful and complex but certainly not friendly. It's a long time since a handset has sent me scurrying for its quick guide and then had me printing out the user manual. Why? Because, in the S8000 - aka the Jet - 's case, in addition to tapping on the screen, you also need to learn what functions at least four other buttons perform.
Rather reviewing Samsung's S8000 from the Press release, I've actually been putting the handset through its paces. Some interesting discoveries have resulted – including the fact that the GPS facility appears to be disabled in the UK version.
The first thing that strikes you is the user interface. Given that I'm no great fan of the iPhone, the fact that the S8000 looks similar doesn't help.
Anyone who assumes that a touch screen interface is always user-friendly would be seriously wrong. In the S8000's case, the UI can be described as powerful and complex but certainly not friendly.
It's a long time since a handset has sent me scurrying for its quick guide and then had me printing out the user manual. Why? Because, in the S8000 - aka the Jet - 's case, in addition to tapping on the screen, you also need to learn what functions at least four other buttons perform.
The most important of these is the 'Gate' button. This reveals a cube six specific functions which are pretty central to the Jet's operation. These apps include the radio application. Bizarrely the radio is not available from the main menu unlike the Music player.
The chief reason for criticising the user interface is that it could deter others from what is really quite a decent, low cost mobile phone. The other point to make is that the Jet is not an Android phone although you'd be forgiven for making that assumption.
The Jet actually uses version 2.0 of Samsung's TouchWiz UI. The main changes over the original appear to be support for a motion UI (more on that later) and a customisable widget screen – hence the reference to Android above.
The Motion UI has three main functions: - 'Shake'; 'Double-tap'; and 'Snap'. To learn how to use them, first read the Quick Guide. This tells you to hold down the Gate button until the tutorial appear.
I couldn't get passed the 'Snap-left' function so a motion UI is wasted on me. I assume that its purpose is so speed up the handset's operation. But what is the point of the Shake function switching off the radio? Don't these guys jog?
That said, the earpiece supplied is the best I've ever encountered as original equipment. The sound is terrific, too. So the radio and music player are awarded full points.
A tip here … look in the box and you'll find a microphone on a lead. That enables you to make hands-free calls with exceptional quality. Full points once again!
Next, I'll expand on another flaw - loading more than 200 phonebook entries onto the Jet.
