Samsung Armani Review by 3G.co.uk
There's no escaping that we live in a fashion conscious world. Be it the tightness of your jeans, hairstyle or even your postcode, our fashion credentials are scrutinised daily. With the mobile phone industry having cottoned on to this fact, we're seeing an influx of designer mobile phones. Samsung has teamed up with Italian fashion giants Giorgio Armani to produce what they say will be the first of many collaborations together.
Samsung Armani fashion credentials
The handset itself is the size of a credit card and it's fair to say that you'll need your limit to afford this phone (although it is available free on contract) - yet as with all things Armani this is partly the point, a means of announcing that you are part of the well-to-do club. At a mere 85 grams, the Samsung Armani fits snugly in the palm of your hand and with its glossy black fascia, 2.6-inch TFT screen and copper back, Samsung has achieved its main aim, a truly gorgeous handset. Think a scaled down more attractive LG Viewty - no ugly duckling itself.
The centrepiece of the Samsung Armani is its touchscreen that takes up the near entirety of the phones front. The only buttons are the call and call end buttons found just below the screen, the volume key on the left hand side and the quick camera key and hold button (hold this to lock and unlock the phone) found on the right of the handset. Thankfully Samsung has included haptic response, first seen on the LG Viewty. This means that when you press a key on the screen you will feel a slight vibration under your fingertip to acknowledge your command.
Samsung Armani touchscreen
The release of the Apple iPhone changed the way in which we judge touchscreen interfaces for good. To the detriment of the other manufacturers it is effectively what all touchscreen devices are now compared to. The Samsung Armani is one of those that suffer. Response time is fairly swift and the sliding of your thumb at the bottom of the screen to shift between the clock and calendar works well enough. Pre-iPhone we would no doubt be singing its praises, but it just doesn't measure up to Apple's offering.
At the top of the screen are three shortcut keys. To make silent, press and hold down the speaker key, while the same process can be used to exit silent mode. In the top right hand corner is the icon that will open up the numeric keypad, while next to that is the icon that will open up the full menu interface. The numeric keypad itself, while the number buttons are spaced out well enough, some care is still needed to tap in the right digits, due to the lack of actual keys. When making a call, the handset cleverly locks itself to avoid any accidental button brushes. End the call and the phone reverts to being unlocked.
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