Samsung Tocco user reviews

Strange Visitor 27 August 2008

Good: Fast responsive touchscreen, haptic feedback, good call quality

Bad: Cannot view uploaded images full screen, variable signal strength

Comment: I was looking for a mobile phone to replace my iPod and PDA. While this doesn't quite hit the mark, it comes close.

The Tocco is small and slim, but with a generous 2.8" screen. Larger screens, such as on the iPhone or Viewty make for a bulky, unwieldy handset. The resolution is a little outdated at 240x320 but the icons and photo's look clear and sharp enough. The screen is bright at it's highest setting, but not as bright as the iPhone. I've heard some folk can't see the screen well in direct sunlight, but I've had no problems.

After having a Viewty before, the speed of this UI is lightning-fast in comparison. It's also very sensitive, but only to fingers - fingernails or a stylus won't work, but all options are large enough to choose, unless you have huge fingers :-)

I have some concerns about signal strength, in that I get 1-3 bars in the house, 3-5 at work, and 5 outside. Even on one bar, however, I've found the call quality to be clear. I've never lost a signal or had a call end prematurely.

My main disappointment is the fact that photo's cannot be viewed full screen - there is always a grey option bar at the bottom. A nice touch is that you can move to the next photo in the folder with a sweep of the finger. The slideshow also puts the file name in large font on the photo's which ruins the experience. Similarly on videos the filename appears throughout.

These are minor quibbles, and are more than made up for by the size, build quality, responsive screen and call quality. I like the large text in messages as I wear glasses for reading and computer work, but at no other time, and it's easy to read messages without specs. The size can also be altered using the volume rocker but not saved as default.

The camera is decent in good lighting but poor is low light, the flash is next to useless. Pictures taken can look blurred on the phone, but fine when transferred to PC.

Call volume is fine for me, but may be a problem if you're in a particularly noisy environment. Ringtone volume is also adequate, and the vibrate is strong and pretty unmissable.

The widgets are a nice touch, and the shortcut screen, but both would have benefitted from being more customisable (changing or adding shortcuts / widgets).

The embedded browser doesn't support landscape, but downloading Opera mini solves that problem.

I may have concentrated on the niggles, but that's because there's not much to be said about the basics that this phone does well: Perfect size, good call quality, fully customisable ringtones and alerts, texting quick once you get used to the touchscreen, strong vibration, haptic feedback, large clear screen, decent camera and fast 3G web access.

This is my 33rd phone and would definitely rank in the top 3.

Michelle Lawson 24 August 2008

Good: I can have my own ringtone for my text message alert

Bad: Nothing so far

Comment: Having always had nokia phones i was wary about changing to a samsung. I heard loads of people saying that you cant have your own ringtone for text message alert on the samsung phones this was confirmed by the sales assistant in the shop. I wanted the phone anyway as i couldnt afford my 1st choice phone the Iphone. Well it was the best decision i have made you can customise your own text message alert tone as i found out by messing with it and the picture quality is great and so is everything else. Even my 14 yr old son is impressed with it especially the music recognition application. I think its better than the Iphone and would recommend it if you are going to buy a new phone then the samsung Tocco is the phone of year.

kma674 9 August 2008

Good: touch me baby

Bad: sometimes goes slow

jamie44 29 July 2008

Good: Realy clear responsive screen

Bad: Battery could be better

Comment: Got my Tocco 4 days ago from Voda they threw in a 4GB microSD with it so the only thing that the Iphone has that I don't is GPS adn my camera is better. Why would i want one of apples bricks when I can have this sleek elegant piece of tech from samsung.

Now the touch screen may not be to everyones liking but then if you dont like touch screens you should be avoiding these phones anyway. The phone is responsive, the vibrating feedback is positive and the image is bright and clear in all but the most blinding of sunlight.

The camera can be a little slow to respond on the highest resolution but if you reduce the image size / quality slightly it is as fast as most cameras of a similar size and the image it captures is crisp.

Web browsing is easy and, so long as you are in an area with the right type of coverage, very very fast. I wish I got the same response from my PC sometimes.

If you are after a touch screen phone then go and have a play with a tocco I'm prety sure that you will love it.

willsnotwillis 28 July 2008

Good: Accurate touch screen

Bad: My files - no option to show memory card and phone memory together

Comment: Fantastic

Wibbles 22 July 2008

Good: Easy to use, great looks, 5 megapixel camera

Bad: Photos not displayed well on phone, locked end call key

Comment: This is a sexy wee phone. It looks great and is easy to use, mostly. There are a couple of negatives. I keep having problems ending a call as the phone locks up the end call button so instead of 1 button press it takes 2, at least. I have only had the phone 1 day so I may not be fully familiar with it but surely ending a call is one of the 2 most basic functions of a phone? The only other issue I have at the moment is the fact that while the phone has a 5 megapixel camera it doesn't display photos well at all. They look great once on your PC but on the phone they are blocky and blurred, not a good idea. Why should I have to wait till I get home and download the photos before enjoying them or showing them off?

That aside the phone is otherwise easy to use, touchscreen is the way forward and with phones like this showing you how to do it I am sure that in a couple of years most phones will be touchscreen. I have alwaysliked Samsung's menu layout and design and it continues to be user-friendly.

All in all while this isn't quite iPhone goodness (a phone that doesn't yet promise all that it should) it is a really good mobile phone. A couple of things need improving for the next model but I am glad I got this phone. don't think I would want another and what more can you say than that?

juvenile_genius 7 July 2008

Good: Great interface, slim size, decent camera

Bad: Texting at first can be hit and miss, mp3 player disappointing

Comment: So I just got this phone as a upgrade from an N95. The Nokia N95 is a great phone, but I found it to be too brick-like and filled with features that I didn't need or use. So I was looking for a phone that was similar in terms of camera performance but a bit more streamlined in terms of menu options and physical appearance.

I was originally recommended the LG Viewty, which looked great until I heard about the Samung Tocco. Ever since I had a play around with an iphone, and used an Archos 605 wi fi I loved the idea of a touchscreen. But the iphone didn't seem right for me - difficult to text, low quality camera etc.

So after hours of trying to find a comparison between the LG and Samsung online (which there were none - I mean they're both so similar but not one forum had a battle between the two), I decided to have a go with both the Viewty and Tocco at a shop (biggest recommendation - touch screens are not for everyone, so try before you buy). I was impressed with the quick menus of the Samsung, as well as the fact the Viewty to me looks a bit cheap. went for the Tocco and I am thrilled that I did.

I've only had it for a week but already it's the best phone I've ever had (whether I say the same thing 12 months from now is another matter).

Design & Appearance
Simply put the phone is slim and light, the interface is incredibly single and once you've got the hang of it texting isn't too bad either (although obviously I found it faster to type on the Nokia). Rather than give a few QWERTY keyboard like the Viewty or Iphone (which may be a major flaw for some people) it just replicates whats on a normal keypad. And I have to after a while it almost becomes second nature!

The touch screen works perfectly especially with the customisable widgets menu (I have the analogue clock, profile and calender on mine). Heck even getting to the bluetooth menu is done in a great way with your phone being represented visually as surround by other bluetooth devices. Clicking on the centre button gives you a quick shortcut to the main phone menus (messages, music player etc). Unlike the N95, you don't have to worry about these applications running on standby and exiting them properly.

Oh and it comes with a case that actually is an alternative back cover. Not only does this protect the screen, but it barely adds any width to the other phone, which has always been my major hassle when it comes to buying cases for a phone. Although if you get a screen protector, then you may not need to put the case on. It's completely optional.


Camera
Decent camera, although the flash isn't as good as the Sony Cybershot models or N95 but still got some decent pictures. Also was impressed with the speed it was taken with. Furthermore looking at and organising pictures is simple - within a few seconds you'll be moving files in different folders before you know it. However don't expect much in terms of photo editing you may expect of other phones.

Battery Life
I can't give a fair opinion of this, but I found that already this is better than the N95. I noticed that I had to change my N95 every 2 days once I got it out of the box. I've only had to charge this phone once in a week.

Any bad things?
Well the mp3 player I thought was incredibly disappointing. For example when you go to Artists and click on a particular one, you expect to have the option of choosing specific albums or look at all the artist's songs right? Not Samsung - all songs are listed automatically. You can look at albums by going to Albums on the main music menu. Also going the songs seems to take forever. Unlike the iphone/Ipod Touch where you can quickly going through songs with a quick alphabet scanner, you just have to drag for ages to get to a particular song.

But this is just a minor inconvenience as I don't use my phone to listen to music.

So overall I couldn't recommend this phone enough. Good camera, slim, great interface which makes it stand out fro

KEVIN HUTCHISON 20 June 2008

Good: Style & user interface is really well thought out!!

Bad: Lack of games, battery life could be a bit better

Comment: I think the samsung tocco is a superb fone with some really clever features! My last fones were sony ericcsson w880i & w800i and its took a while to get used to the new smsung user interface, but its great & i just cant put the fone down! I've added a 2gb micro sd card, which i got for £6.50 off of play.com (free delivery) which is great & plenty of space for all your music, but the tocco comes with 240mb memory built in which is superb for a phone!! The camera takes great pics once you fiddle aroud & get the right settings ( ppl are saying the camera is crap) come on guys you have to be patient and check out the settings availible first! Its not just a ... "take it out the box, point & shoot amazing 5mp pics" there are 5mp digi cams ive used that are not as good as the tocco pics... I've yet to download my pics onto a pc, but im told they look blurry on the fone (not mine) then lok great on pc?? Maybe its just some models that have this issue or as i said the folk just arent using the correct settings. The music is really crisp & clear on the loud speaker & the headphones (which i was surprised about because im used to the exellent sony ericcson ear bud ear phones) i thought it would take ages to get used to texting on this fone but ive had it 2 days & im texting just as fast as my w880i, the only thing is i hope sony ericcsson add more stuff for us to download to the widgets, that would be great!! I love the way you can just drag & drop whatever you want on to the screen from the sidebar, you can have the widget displayed on the side of the screen or hidden, its just up to you, it comes with a cool leather flip screen protector that fits on the back like a battery cover & the leather flap covers the screen....funky ;-), ive not seen any advertising for this phone tho which is surprising as it says on the net theres a 3.5m ad campaign... and sony ericsson have there new c902 advert out & lg with their secret, so i wonder when or if the tocco will hit our screens!! I would advise anyone to get this phone, its a bit on the expensive side sim free but i got mine free on t-mobile as an upgrade (12 month contract-flext 35 with £120 to spend a month on txts calls & mms)... I hope this review has helped anyone who is considering geting this phone make up their minds, i just got the phone without reading reviews & im glad i did....only gripe i have is batery life but then again i played around with it constantly for 12 hrs yesterday, bluethooth, txting, phoning & just playing around with the widgets, it lasted all day yesterday but i switched it off about 1am & turned it back on this morning at 11am & the battery went dead at 5pm today (maybe that aint so bad & im just loking for "a fault". Oh & one more thing... plz make games for this fone coz there is none out there :-( It would be great using the touch screen to control games.... Ok i think iv`e went on a bit here, lol, i just want to let others know how good this phone is 10/10!!

nazarenobellucci 8 June 2008

Good: The dimension (summer phone)

Bad: The video capability

Comment: A good light and small phone with e quite large display