After trying out the Samsung Star (S5233) for over a week, I must say that this entry-level full touchscreen phone from Samsung comes as a contender in that category.
The first time I powered up the phone and saw the UI, it reminded me of the Android OS. Samsung’s TouchWiz UI is fast, responsive and pretty slick.
The screen is a full 3 inches with a resolution of 240×400 pixels. The display is bright and crisp while the haptic feedback of the touchscreen can be adjusted for sensitivity (1 as subtle to 5 as shaky). This gives you the ability to choose how much response/feedback you feel whenever you touch the screen.
While using your fingers to navigate the touchscreen is quite easy, the Samsung Star comes with an aluminum stylus which is retractable to different 3 lengths (much like an umbrella stick). The stylus is primarily for handwriting recognition. There’s an option for alphanumeric, small qwerty and full qwerty as input method while the accelerometer provides automatic re-orientation of the display screen depending on the position of the phone.
The phone runs a number of standard widgets for photos, music, clock, calendar, etc. on the left side of the screen that you can drag and drop into the home screen for easy access. The home screen is also extended to 2 more screens just by swiping your finger sideways (there are 3 small dots that indicates which screen you are in). This is one feature from Android I like since it gives an impression that you have a larger virtual screen to work on (I’m tempted to call it extended desktop).
At the bottom of the screen are 3 physical buttons — two for making/dropping calls and a center button that functions as cancel/back button. While the phone is just 12mm thick, the phone feels thicker than it seems although you get a good hold of it with one hand.
The speakers in the front is loud and crisp at low volume (probably due to the DNSe) but doesn’t have enough bass. The camera at the back is 3.15MP (2048×1536 pixels) but no autofocus so captured images aren’t even decent enough to post here.
If you’re looking for connectivity options, the Samsung Star might not be for you — no WiFi, no 3G (just GPRS/EDGE), no GPS — just Bluetooth with A2DP. This is an entry-level touchscreen phone that retails for Php10,490 (some stores sell it for Php9,999).
@martin: just wondering how you were able to have your youtube working. did you install anything? my wifi is perfectly working, but my youtube isn’t.
thanks!
pwede po ba makapagbasa ng ebooks sa samsung s5230?
I got my samsung star wifi and i can say that it’s pretty good!!! mbilis cia at may NTC logo..guys if you will purchase one please look for the NTC logo so you can be assured that it’s in good condition…tenx
san po pwede magdownload ng free na samsung star games??pahingi po ng websyt.. salamat.. o love my samsung star
Hi;
Anybody can help me how to connect to outlook express through my samsung s5233w.
Regards,
SM
i can’t connect my samsung-star-s5233 to internet due to DNS problem..
hey..i 2 hv d sme cell vdh d sme clr
gud aftii mga guys!! magkano ung gnung fone and wer 2 buy dat ung malpit hr sa bicutan.. tnx!!
nid to sell my samsung star for 7k flat original jst used for 1month original, color pink., im from visayas., pls email me if anyone intrested, tnx jaimme_lainne@yahoo.com
i’ve been using samsung star w/o wifi for at least 10 months. just last week the touch screen is not working anymore. tried removing the btry etc. wla epek. any idea guys? greatly appreciated.
ps. under warranty pb yun? thanks again
Twitter: daniojr
says:
A good contribution to technology by Samsung that innovates the current styles of phones.
@ traveller:
Dalhin mo sa pinakamalapit na Samsung Service Center sa lugar niyo. Under Warranty pa ‘yan, ‘la pa namang 1 year eh. Ganyan din kasi nangyari sa Samsung Jet ko, dinala ‘ko agad sa kanila.
Ang pwede daw naging dahilan diyan ay ‘yung pagkakaipit n’ung screen niya, lalo na ‘pag nakalagay sa masikip na bulsa or pouch (^-^)v
@grin_salt
thanks sir. cge dalhin ko n lng service center. yoko palitan ganda kc gamitin ng unit.
@ traveller:
No prob. Okay talagang gamitin ang Star. Ganyan din ang cel. ko last year, nalubog lang sa baha ng bagyong Ondoy kaya kinailangan ko nang palitan..he he! (^-^)>
need more themes my mobile samsung
just bought a brandnew pearl white samsung monte yesterday for only 8500, the black one costs only 8000…
phone works great!…=)
Selling my sister’s 5233 wifi at 7k each (black and pink).
- jessjr
jessjr422@yahoo.com
where i can download free games for s5233?please help, thanks..
Still is a month-long saga with Samsung! My SMART plan gave me a Samsung Corby-basic since Nokia was unavailable at that time. I am telling you of my nightmare with that unit. It repeats sms more than 10 times each. How annoying…
Samsung Customer service has picked up the unit. Thank God! And now offers to replace it with another model but for a fee…sorry can not spend a single cent for S
Hi. I’m gonna buy a samsung star next weekend and I know its much more cheaper now hehe. I read everything about the phone and watched videos about it. Ask ko lang, can i download and install a dictionary?? college student kasi ako, and pano ba magpalit ng firmware? meron kasing s5230 na hello kitty edition at downloadable sya sa torrent. Pwede ko ba iinstall yung firmware ng hello kitty s5230 sa samsung s5233w? kasi ang bibilhin ko s5233w na eh? and last question, gusto ko sana ng pink na theme, e ang available lang ata sa phone green and red pag binili mo, pero sa youtube nakita ko, meron samsung star na pink ang theme? Please reply guys.
or contact me:
kittygorewawa@yc
thanks sa tutulong. godbless
may i ask if you will need to present the original receipt when availing of the one yr warranty? i misplaced my receipt.
tulong po sa s5233 ko….makailang change ko na sa GPRS/WAP at MMS settings ko, “no response” palagi ang resulta, d man lang maka-open maski isang webpage…ni walang icon na G o E ang lumalabas sa screen…..binili ko pa to last year sa italy…..hope someone who encountered the same mobile internet problem or anybody with a helpful idea can help me solve this….thanks a bunch folks…more power…..just email your tips tru… aicrag_ray@yahoo.com
one more thing….Smart subscriber po ako…..
help guys.. how do i configure the sensitivity of the screen?? help po.. thanks..
svetlana_mae@yahoo.com