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).
Ria,
Pangit po ba talaga yung sound or sa speaker lang ng phone? Sayang naman kung hindi maganda quality ng sounds, mas gusto ko kasi mag soundtrip kaysa kumuha ng picture.
Nalilito na ako kung Cookie or Star pagiipunan ko haha! Pero based on the reviews and comments regarding these two, I guess Star wins :)
Kaya lang, may naka-experience na ba na nawawalan ng signal dito sa Star?
Thanks!
i’m not satisfied with the camera, blurred kasi sya pag nagttake ako ng pictures (indoors-maliwanag naman), dahil ba un sa wala syang auto focus? wat advice nyo para makakuha ako magandang pic?
by the way – 10,300 bili ko sa phone ko sa sm north peo walang memory card.. sale pa daw un.
Hai! i have the samsung star w/o wifi. maayus naman lahat, one thing na ayaw ko sa star camera is that AYAW nya sa artificial light, i min sobrang pangit nya kapag indoor. grabe, under sunlight lang gusto nya. gaunu rin ba sa inyong mga owners? and Can somebody teach me how the samsung studio works, pls. hindi ko kse tlaga alm pls. and may flv to 3gp converter ba ang samsung studio, videos which i can play on my phone? tnx, merry christmas everyone
Hello everyone I just bought my GT-S5233W yesterday, and I’ve installed the software through my laptop. But there is a problem sa driver ng USB may nag pop-up na message “Usb driver install error. Unable to lunch the 1, 2, 3 & 5 Driver Setup file! Code:1″ what does it mean? Can anyone help kung anong ibig sabihin nito? My O.S. is Windows7. May kinalaman ba eto dito? Thank you guys please give me feedback.
@RIA alam ko pong walang flash ang s5233w, I’ve read that already sa specs. Si DETCRUZ po ang naghahanap ng flash. I was asking po about sa problem sa wifi and the issues about the phone freezing kung totoo ba talaga. Please read the replies carefully.
mga dudes, help namn. may samsung star ako, pero mahina speakers. gus2 ko sana malaman ung code na itatype tsaka ung step by step na procedure kung ppano. or if you have websites nlng that can help..thanks a lot!
KEI, my bad. well sa wifi, problem lang naman kapag hindi malakas ang signal ng pinag coconnectan mo. so dapat talaga malapit ka sa router/provider. Sa freezing, never ko naman un naexperience pero naeexperience ko is minsan namamatay ang phone.
RODJ, medyo mahina talaga ung sounds ng samsung. Pwera sa M3510. dun kasi nalalakasan ako. (Dapat lang kasi kasama ung sa mga the beat editions which is counterpart ng Express Music) Kung level 14 na ung sounds mo, sagad na un!
Regarding sa camera, check nyo kung sagad na 3.2mp na sya. Pero since wala syang flash, hindi ok pag madilim na ung lugar or pangit ang ilaw indoors.
Sa price naman, naging 11k lang ung s5233w with free umbrella, bag, micro sd na 2gb, silicon case nung great samsung sale period. Standard price un sa mga GSS participants sa MOA MEGA NORTH EDSA. :)
Ngayon hindi ko lang alam magkano pero feeling ko bababa na ung value ng star kasi magkakaron ng corby pro (B5310) next year. 3g na kasi un na wifi. touch screen and qwerty na rin. Improved version of the b3410.
http://technogra.ph/2009/12/14/the-samsung-corby-pro-b5310-excites-me/
kaso kaya hindi ko to hinintay kasi ayoko ng mga nasslide na phones kasi magiging problem dto in the future is ung flex nya. Mahal kasi ang flex kapag hindi na under warranty plus labor mo pa! :) sayang lang kasi 3g phone na sya na touch scree na may wifi. :P
Hello I just bought my GT-S5233W last 2 days ago, and I’ve installed the software through my laptop. But there is a problem sa connection driver ng USB cable hindi nya ma-detect yung mobile fone thru sa laptop ko. Tapos may nag pop-up na message sa screen ng laptop ko it said “Usb driver install error. Unable to lunch the 1, 2, 3 & 5 Driver Setup file! Code:1″ what does it mean? I re-installed again the software pero ganun pa din. Can anyone help me naman kung anong gagawin ko dito? May kinalaman ba eto sa windows ko? My O.S. is Windows7. Please give me feedback guys. Thanks a lot!
KEI, my bad. well sa wifi, problem lang naman kapag hindi malakas ang signal ng pinag coconnectan mo. so dapat talaga malapit ka sa router/provider. Sa freezing, never ko naman un naexperience pero naeexperience ko is minsan namamatay ang phone.
RODJ, medyo mahina talaga ung sounds ng samsung. Pwera sa M3510. dun kasi nalalakasan ako. (Dapat lang kasi kasama ung sa mga the beat editions which is counterpart ng Express Music) Kung level 14 na ung sounds mo, sagad na un!
Regarding sa camera, check nyo kung sagad na 3.2mp na sya. Pero since wala syang flash, hindi ok pag madilim na ung lugar or pangit ang ilaw indoors.
Sa price naman, naging 11k lang ung s5233w with free umbrella, bag, micro sd na 2gb, silicon case nung great samsung sale period. Standard price un sa mga GSS participants sa MOA MEGA NORTH EDSA. :)
Ngayon hindi ko lang alam magkano pero feeling ko bababa na ung value ng star kasi magkakaron ng corby pro (B5310) next year. 3g na kasi un na wifi. touch screen and qwerty na rin. Improved version of the b3410.
http://technogra.ph/2009/12/14/the-samsung-corby-pro-b5310-excites-me/
kaso kaya hindi ko to hinintay kasi ayoko ng mga nasslide na phones kasi magiging problem dto in the future is ung flex nya. Mahal kasi ang flex kapag hindi na under warranty plus labor mo pa! :) sayang lang kasi 3g phone na sya na touch scree na may wifi. :P
KEI SORRY AGAIN! NAME MO NALAGAY KO!!! PEACE TYO
RIA: hehe i was supposed to ask if its quadband rather.:) kc galing ako store kanina, and they told me its not quadband/triband. kainis, i was about to buy na if quadband xa. bat ganun? hndi ba pare pareho na quadband??? im going abroad kc and i want to have it. and since you work sa samsung before quadband = okay sa europe db?? thanks.
and what is HSDPA anyway?
Anev,
QUADBAND talaga ang star. anong shop pinuntahan mo? Baka hindi lang alam ng frontliner ng pinuntahan mong shop. So far Quadband pinaka mataas or malawak na band range. So yes, pwede abroad. pwera lang sa japan kasi kailangan 3g phone din dun.
HSDPA is High speed downlink packet access. it works faster compared to gprs :)
local shop here in ilocos. wala kc sa flyers ng samsung, not indicated na quadband ang s5233. thats why. :(
anyways, thanks ria, and happy new year.
After a few months, I am quite satisfied with it considering its price.
However, there are some drawbacks. They are the following:
1. can’t load and see youtube videos if your wifi is password encoded. So remove your password connection.
2. lousy camera and video, can’t shoot at night, no autofocus, very low resolution
3. can’t really read ebooks, can only read simple pdf and word files
4. can’t edit office documents like spreadsheets, word processing, presentations and database
5. can’t multitask, you have to stop what you are doing if you are going to read your message or answer your phone
The good points are the following:
1. cheapest wifi capable brand-name phone. You can get cheaper wifi capable but these are unknown clones
2. touchscreen
3. good audio…reputed to be better than iphone even
4. nice look, occasionally mistaken for an iphone
Eagerly awaiting the new product apple is introducing next year…it will be in between the imac and the iphone. Sana it won’t be very expensive.
if you like sounds buy n 5800!!!!!!!!
Hi everyone, im new to samsung but im planning palang to have one.
Im choosing if im gonna buy samsung star or corby pro. gusto ko kasi with wifi but i found the star one is more cheaper. but im going to buy on february pa naman :p
do you know any other samsung phone with wifi na hindi lalagpas ng 10.5k? and xempre yung subok na if meron kau iaadvise for me about the unit you want to recommend.
Thanks :)
anyone here used to buy cellphone in greenhills?
ok naman ba?… thanks uli :D
I’ve purchased a set of S5322S… I’m satisfied…really. But, I really need free ms office for this mobile. thanks.
hi guys
@ manny, that’s also my problem. ayaw mag open ng youtube, haven’t tried using any wifi hotspot that doesn’t require a password. sucks din kasi may password yong wifi dito sa bahay. wala ba iba magagawa jan?
i really wanted n5530xm, it has some features that star doesn’t have. but for 2 weeks now, i’m happy with the phone naman.
additional question nga pala, does it support ms word and ppt files?
I am selling my samsung star S5233 for 6,500. I just need money now… I haven’t used it that much coz i have other fones. Anyone interested could reach me through my email noyz_cram@yahoo.com
the counter part of this for nokia is nokia 5800 xpres music! see spechs
it would be better to text na lang pala. w/out wifi nga pala yun. 09174355867
daniel_giovannie Hindi sya nakaka edit ng ms documents. Viewer lang sya. Ung Mga windows mobile ng samsung and Samsung hd nakaka view at edit ngMs Word at Excel.
vav- ang star nakaka view ng ms word at excel pero ppt hindi ko sure. Basta Docu viewer ang star hindi edit.
For the wifi na hindi maka view ng Utube, according sa nakausap ko sa sepco nung nagwowork pa ko dun, may compatibility pa daw kasi ung phone sa router.
Base on my experience, nakakapag utube naman ako kaso may times tlaga na ayaw. Ang sinsabi ay BAD REQUEST. So hindi rin masure if sa connection nyo, sa phone, sa wifi/router or may mali kayong setting or may kailangan i-configure.
Hindi naman kasi ako ganun ka apektado sa youtube issue. Pwede naman kasi mag youtube sa laptop o pc. Pwede din naman maglagay ng videos sa phone. Maraming alternative. :)
when I was still working at SEPCO, natatawa nalang din ako because some people expect so much from samsung phones specially sa mga high end.
It’s still a phone! It’s not a tv. It’s not a laptop.
Yun lang :)
@ria, i guess you’re right regarding the youtube issue. i was able to view youtube videos using our office’s wifi (linksys router) kahit na password-protected pero hindi sa bahay (tplink router).
i think it really doesn’t matter if password-protected ang access point. i think it all boils down to this:
1) you are connected to either an open wifi or a secured one with a correct network key
2) your browser profile and media player vod settings are configured to use this connection
3) router is compatible with your phone
overall, i’m happy with the phone. very responsive touch screen.
idlewild replied on Jan 5th, 2010 at 12:31 pm (395)
@ria, i guess you’re right regarding the youtube issue. i was able to view youtube videos using our office’s wifi (linksys router) kahit na password-protected pero hindi sa bahay (tplink router).
i think it really doesn’t matter if password-protected ang access point. i think it all boils down to this:
1) you are connected to either an open wifi or a secured one with a correct network key
2) your browser profile and media player vod settings are configured to use this connection
3) router is compatible with your phone
overall, i’m happy with the phone. very responsive touch screen.
-GANTO ANG MGA GUSTO KONG CUSTOMER NUNG NAG WOWORK PA KO. MATALINO! HAHAHA! UNG IBA KASI SPOONFEED. THEY WONT EVEN TRY TO FIGURE THINGS OUT!