Samsung are renowned for delivering reliable, compact entry level handsets. so when their B3310 ‘Compact Socializer’ dropped in our office we looked forward to a well rounded phone that did exactly what it said on the tin…

The B3310 comes in black, blue, pink or green. When our pink copy arrived takers for the review shrank(most of team Omio are guys what are allergic to pink). So it fell to me, the new boy, to man up and take on what affectionately became known as “Barbie phone”.

Design and Spec

The pebble-like form is nice to clutch and being a slider I often caught myself clacking it open and shut for no reason other than the nice noise it made.

The B3310’s interface is populated with a cheeky font and bold icons, which set the tone for the phone’s use – chatty, fun and light-hearted.

Samsung have clearly geared this handset toward the tweeny market – young teens with lots to say and lots of time to say it.

That might account then for the problems I encountered with the QWERTY keypad… my fat man-fingers often strayed onto the wrong keys as I thumped out texts.

Another recurring source of frustration was the highlights white cursor keys, which proves distracting when you’re not familiar with the layout.

Unusual too, that the numbers keys are situation in piano-fashion, along the side of the handset. I was asked on a number of times if this was a problem, but to be honest, it wasn’t. This did however earn it’s second nickname – “Piano Phone”.


Multimedia

Media-wise it’s got an Mp3 player, basic 2mp camera and video capability. It also packs a stereo radio.

Let’s face it though you’re not going to ditch your ipod or camera anytime soon, but it has the extras, so you can’t complain.


Calling and Connectivity

Call quality is fine and everything in that area works as you’d expect it to. You also get Bluetooth and a micro USB.

Hopping onto social networks is where the Barbie, er I mean B3310 really proves its worth however: Straight out of the box, the B3310 dips right in where you want it to – Facebook, Myspace etc.

Everything is nicely optimised (Access powered) so you can easily check messages, update you status and tinker with you profile.

While manufacturers claim more and more that their entry level handsets hook you up to all your social networks, this isn’t usually the case. Too often you’re just lumped with a widget that is little more than a link to a web address.

In the B3310 Samsung have optimised everything so that you can actually use these networks how you would like to on the move – status updates on what you’re eating / Pokes to people you fancy / Messages to and from your nearest and dearest.

Verdict

Overall the B3310 is a snappy little handset and the social networking functions earn it the “Compact Socializer” tag that it comes with. The interface is well presented and intuitive, so you can expect to be using this phone with no problems right out of the box.

The B3310 also comes in a range of colours and I’d even say that having a pink handset wasn’t that bad – if you don’t take yourself too seriously, then it actually became quite a talking point… proving that not all your social interactions don’t just have to start with a URL.

Be sure to check out our Samsung B3310 deals!