Samsung B5310 Genio Slide Review
Written on 1/21/2010 12:31:00 PM by poison_ivy
Okay, forget about the Motorola Milestone and the Nokia N900, Samsung has done it again and released a mobile phone that can match these phones' features at a very cheap price: meet the Samsung Genio Slide.
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Design
Familiar with the Samsung Genio Touch? Well, the Samsung Genio Slide is pretty much its twin brother except that the Genio Slide has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. The other thing that's different on the Genio Slide's face is that it features a secondary camera for video calling. The Samsung Genio Slide also features a 3.5mm headset jack on top and a standard microUSB slot on the side.
Samsung did a good job of making the Genio Slide thinner than the Nokia N900. Of course, the Milestone is still the thinnest mobile phone with a slide out keyboard but for a budget phone, it's amazing how thin Samsung has made this handset.
There's a four row QWERTY keyboard and the keys are large and have a nice tactile feedback. In fact, it's actually better typing on the Genio Slide than on my Milestone.
Features
The Samsung Genio Slide, like the Samsung Genio Touch has the latest Touchwiz UI. You can add widgets to the three homescreens. As for the homescreens, you can change the wallpapers per homescreen or you can choose one wallpaper for the three, kinda like the N900.
The screen is pretty much responsive and unlike Nokia's S60, kinetic scrolling is present on all menus. Of course, at this price point, you can't really expect it to be as fluid as on the iPhone, Milestone or the N900 but the screen responsiveness is pretty much adequate, meaning it doesn't have any annoying lags but it's not that fast either.
Now what I like about Samsung is that they're pretty much able to put anything on any device and then slap a pretty competitive price on it. Take this whole touchscreen and slide-out keyboard segment of the mobile phone market. We have the Nokia N97, N97 Mini, Nokia N900, Motorola Milestone, HTC Touch Pro2, Xperia X1, and Samsung B7610 competing in that department and most of these mobile phones are priced somewhere around £400 or free at around £30-£35 a month tariff. Now features on these handsets are pretty much common, 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth, at least 5 megapixel cameras, and GPS. Then comes Samsung with the Genio Slide which also has 3G, WiFi and Bluetooth. 3G and WiFi isn't really common on mid-range handsets, usually it's one or the other but not the Samsung Genio Slide, this mobile phone gives you two choices in connecting to the internet plus 3.2 megapixel camera with smile detection (which not even the iPhone has), and A-GPS. And the price? Around half the price of the high-end mobile phones or free on £15 a month tariff on Vofadone!! Now THAT's value for money.
As for the media player, I actually like Samsung TouchPlayer better than the standard music player on the Milestone. Plus, the Samsung Genio Slide actually
Another great feature of the Samsung Genio Slide is that it supports Microsoft Exchange which is good news for business users but ordinary folks like us don't really give an A**. Oh wait, I take that back, you can actually make use of the exchange support by setting up your gmail account though I haven't actually tried that. Setting up your email is actually pretty easy or tricky depending on your tech knowledge. You need to know your email client's incoming and outgoing email server but it's nothing that a quick google wouldn't fix. The Samsung Genio Slide also has an onscreen keyboard (alphanumeric in portrait mode) which is really responsive and you don't have to slide out the keyboard in case you need to do a quick text response. My only problem is that in landscape mode, there's no onscreen keyboard, you have to slide out the QWERTY one which I guess is a good call considering the screen area would be too small for a landscape onscreen QWERTY keyboard, but still, it would be nice to have that option. Text messages can be viewed in threaded mode which seems to be the standard these days.
As for the 3 megapixel camera, it lacks autofocus but it has geotagging and face detection (which is fun but not really quite useful). Shutter speed is actually faster than the Milestone and as usual, image quality specially in outdoors shot is pretty decent. Here's two sample shots:
The web browser has an option to enable flash, I turned it on but I still get the adobe logo when viewing the videos on this blog. Anyways, the web browser is alright. I mean, it's not blazing fast but it will do when you need to have a quick browse of some of your favorite websites.
And as icing to this feature phone, Samsung also added a task manager which can be accessible by holding the menu button. Although it's a nice added touch, you'll find that it's not as nice as the task manager on the higher end smartphones because most of the time, you'll see a message regarding how the phone is out of resources.
Conclusion
I can't really put the Samsung Genio Slide in league with the Milestone and Nokia N900 because in the truest sense of the word, the latter two handsets are smartphones and have their own operating systems and applications which make them more of a mobile computer. The Genio Slide, while it offers almost the same features in terms of connectivity and emails, only has java applications going for it. Now I'm not saying that the Samsung Genio Slide can't hold its own against these handsets, in fact, it's on a league of its own. It's a mobile phone that gives you so much more value for your money.
College kids and teenagers don't have to break the bank in order to get the iPhone, N900 or the Droid in order to connect with their friends, check your email or your Facebook status because the Genio Slide can do all of that. Think of it as the netbook of mobile phones (it's not as good as the Macbook or Vaio but it will do). No doubt like the Samsung Genio, the Genio Slide will definitely create another stir and would become popular to texters and social network addicts alike.
Posted in
cellphone reviews,
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mobile phone reviews,
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Samsung CorbyPro,
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I am thinking of getting this phone
but I want a stylus pen with the phone
and I dont want it to cut off the people on the other side of the phone
what shall I do?
I guess this is the phone you cannot help falling in love with! I got one last week and really happy with its performance.
I have been looking to buy a new phone since more than an year, but always disappointed by lack of one feature or the other, or if all is well then the prices are reaching the skies...
Definitely this is the best one, missing the flash for the camera... which is kinda acceptable when so many other good things are there...
the sound wuality is good... i even watched a video over the wi-fi on it, which was quite good speed... pic quality is really good :)
Excellent post and writing style. Bookmarked.
Loving this phone!! Touchscreen is very responsive. Love the fact that it has WiFi and 3G. Browser is great and there's an IM client.
Definitely best value for my money.
Is Orange going to offer this phone? After reading the review and features, I really want this phone but I don't want to switch to Vodafone.
i love this phone i had the nokia 5800 before this but changed and i havent looked back i also wanted a stylus pen i just picked one up from ebay for £2 and it can attach to the phone where you would usually put a charm or something :)
I'm excited to get this phone. Would have preferred it on pay as you go but 15 a month is okay.
Does anyone know if you can get this phone with the white keyboard in the UK? and also what backs are available for it? I was hoping the Genio Touch backs would fit it as I wanted a pink back but I'm guessing not?
Thank You!
For non vodafone customers if you fancy the genio slide than you should check with your local vodafone store or call vodafone customer services because nowadays all their phones i mean the new handsets are unlocked by vodafone itself. All you need to do is call them and check before you make a purchase and most likely they will give you a code which will let you use the handset on X-networks. I hope this helps but pls call the Vodafone customer service Otherwise dont curse me.....
Mobile Maniac.....
@Vicky. I don't know if Vodafone has the white one. I got mine unlocked and it comes with three back covers, White, White swirls, and black. Try calling Vodafone and confirm if they do carry the white one. Back covers are probably available at Amazon
omg imloven this phone but how do u unlock the games as it says that there is a place in the options n it says type in unlocking code?
@ Ashleigh: You need to buy it at Samsung's website and type in the unlock code they give you
Hi Poison Ivy
I now have this phone
and love it!
Where did you get it
unlocked?
I live in London and have been
unable of find anyone who can do
this.
@Jan. I'm currently in Asia and got mine unlocked which is the trend here. You can try eBay and search for "corbyPro", it's the same model but just different naming scheme.
I love this phone!!! It's got everything and cheap!
@Anonymous 7 Feb: I have bought this awesome phone on PAYG from vodafine store for £130 in the 3rd week of January. so now it may be little different priced..
Please tell me has anyone had problems with the Samsung Genio Slide - I have had mine 5 days now and already it has just switched off on me 3 times for no reason at all. I was busy typing a txt message last night and the phone just switches off. I have also been told by friends my txt messages come thru twice and it only shows once on my side. After 5 days I am not that impressed with this phone.
@lil009: My brother owns the phone and he hasn't had a problem with his. Try bring it back to Vodafone as this kind of problem may be manufacturing defect and vodafone can replace it for youl
Ive had this phone a few weeks now.
Anyone know if the camera on the front can be used to take normal pics, as in not just for vid call purposes?
Its been an ok phone so far, and mine is unlocked as ive tried orange sim in it and works fine.
To take pictures with the front camera of your Samsung Genio Slide or CorbyPro, type in *#0*# in the phone pad, select cif camera or vga camera and then press the screen to take a picture.
I just looovveee this phone! Really great value.
Ive had this phone for 2 weeks.
I love the phone but there are some downsides.
Sometimes when you touch the front page to view a text, it slides onto the next page which isnt what i want.
Also, the vibrations on the phone arent great. There are 5 types of vibrations to select from but non are strong enough to alert you when say...you have it in your handbag or on a table in a busy room.
hey, does anyone know if or when this phone will be available on orange PAYG??
Does anyone know if this is coming out on orange? and do you have to pay to use the internet on it, like to go on facebook etc.
No idea if it will be available on Orange and yes, you have to pay to use the internet unless your contract has unlimited data plan.
Hi...i was just wondering where everyone got theirs unlocked..i am staying in bournemouth area or maidstone area over the weekends. i just bought the genio slide but need it unlocked. i tried to get it done in maidstone but was told that they couldnt unlock it. please help...thanks
what has evryone got theirs on?
like is it orange,3,vodfone etc..
I think right now it's only Vodafone who has this.
does anyone know were i can get this on o2 wich is a white keypad???? xoxxo
i Bought the genio TOUCH for Xmas but i wanted a querty keyboard and a touch screen but there wasnt any, and i just saw this and i was like OMG i want this fone i cant wait til my Bday i am gonna get one !!! they are so cool I NEED THIS PHONE IT IS MY DREAM PHONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
where can i buy this phone in brisbane !
this pfone is really good!! :) i loveeeee it but i really need to get it unlocked so does any body know where to do that??? thx soo much! =)
there is a website www.thephoneunlockers.com and i got my phone unlocked through this website a week ago and it worked really well. all you need is your imei number and you transfer 20gbp and they email you a code. it then takes 2min to follow the instructions and its unlocked.
i love this phone sooo much!! got it on Thursday its so epic!. its features are really good, yes a stylus pen would be nice but really you could use any one you find, i love the browser on it and the WiFi and 3g is really good,
it would be better if it could get lots more applications and use of Samsung keis it would be brilliant if it could
i really think if your looking for a really good phone i would defiantly get it!! :)
OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH poison_ivy, YOU ARE A LIFE SAVER FOR POSTING THE COMMENT ABOUT HOW TO USE THE FRONT CAMERA, I LOVE YOU :d
Hi i was wondering if anyone can help me!!! i just got this phone and love it! I see that this phone also has the youtube application.
But why when i go on this site and try to play a video its buffering and doesn't do anything after that.
It just says that the connection failed. Please help!!!!
hello everyone! urr my genio slide has gotten all wierd. the screen isnt flipping right when the qwerty board is in the screen id sideways and when its out the screen goes vertical and the keyboard doesnt work? help please!? x
why cant i find any back for my phone. theres loads for the genio touch but not the slide please help?
Doesn't anyone else find the screen locking when making a call really really annoying?!
Thanks for this review, it really helped me choose which phone to get... and I got this one! Very pleased with mine so far, though I'm a very simple user, I stick to just texting, the odd call and checking the cricket scores online :D
The only thing I'd criticise is: go back and re-read your review and see how many times you said "pretty much" ;)
got this phone and was impressed with its features yet it wont allow me to send text messages .. tells me 'service unavailable'.. tried my sim in different phone and its ok... tried different sim in the samsung and still wont allow text messages. Have checked the message centre address and i'm at a loss!!!! Can any one help !!
mail me the answer to
stovekraftgilmapvtltd@yahoo.com
or
pathaktrading@yahoo.com
when will vodafone ireland have this phone ??? :)
you can now get it for a tenner a month and it looks even more awesome because of so!!!!!!!!!1
Hey all! My husband just got a samsung phone. Its a different model(monte touch) it was unlocked when he bought it although he got it on vodafone. Could it be possible the genio slide is same, you buy on a network but is unlocked so you can use any network sim? Just a thought to try help those who keep asking about unlocking and those who are wanting the phone but dont want to switch networks. I dont have this phone but, I am getting it on monday! ;)
I recently have bought the samsung Genio Slide an the videos that were on my memory card come up as unsuported when they have been taken from my other phone can anyone tell me why the phone does this?
i am thinking of buying this phone but will it work on any of the irish networks ?
im thinking of getting this but i used to have the genio touch but it got stolen :( i had some problems with it though
1) it turned itself off and wouldn'y let me turn it back on- others i know had this happen too, samsung sent them a new one but the same happened.
2) a couple of times when a friend was texting me i recieved the text 5 times and then started recieving it again three hours later- they had no idea what was happening however this could have been something other than the phone
3) can you get it on t mobile pay as you go?
4) if you can how much is it?
would really appreciate some answers!!!!!!!!!!!
email at chlo.hanco@ntlworld.com
I had one (on contract) and i had it for 8 months. Its a good phone it had never crashed on me. The only thing that I ever had wrong with it is when the vibration is on because of how it closes sometimes it makes a noise which can't be good. This phone is so good infact that since my got stolen, I'm buying a new one.
Also if you get bored of the colour you can buy some more backs as I think the genio touch backs fit.
This coming from a 14 year old girl.
I have a one its great and poison ivy you are really great....genius.....you have told me to use the frontcamera absolute genius....
This phone is fantastic! I only got it a couple of days ago but it's shown me a lot of potential. The qwerty keypad is very easy to use and the phone in general has alot of great apps pre - loaded. Anyone looking for a easy to use touchscreen with lots of great apps already prepared and available to download...THIS IS THE PHONE FOR YOU! :).
Hello, I have this phone and i would just like to say it is very good and responsive but i have a problem ould someone help me? when you buy a game from vodafone where does it go? it is not in games!!
I got this phone and i loved it !!! It is a brilliant phone and if you are looking for a phone GET THIS ONE !!!! Best phone i have ever had!! and i have had a lot of phones. You dont have to pay for internet like facebook e.t.c it might disconnected at first do it a few times and it will work !!!! love the fact it it 3G and touch screen is very responsive and when you text i love using the keyboard !!! BRILLIANT PHONE !!! GET IT !!
thinking of getting this, can I connect to my home wifi though?
Hi, I'm thinking of getting this phone but I want it on o2 and can only find it on vodafone. Does anyone know how you do it?? Thanks!!
What is an imei number?????
i am 13 years old and ive already had a moderola but my parents wont let me get the samsung because they think they are expencive but does anyone know really how expencive they are in saskatchewan
I want this phone when i saw it i fell in love with it!!