Samsung F480 TouchWiz

Connectivity
The F480 comes equipped with plenty of connectivity options, except Wi-Fi, which it could have used to boost the ratings. It’s a 3G-enabled handset capable of HSDPA speeds for browsing (oh please let 3G be here soon!). It supports EDGE/GPRS as well. I found the browser to be quite well-equipped for the most part, though it doesn’t make use of the large display too efficiently. It allows for various views from full screen (which still doesn’t use all 2.8 inches) and desktop viewing, as well as a Smart Fit view.

Navigation tends to be ‘incomplete’ when in full screen mode, as some of the options that you may require don’t show up. All you’ll see are a navigation key for moving up or down the page, a return key to go back to the previous page (no forward key), and one more to type in a desired URL.

There's a bit of bother with some sites when it comes to accessing a portion that requires you to type any information, like a login screen. Double tapping that area would normally activate the keypad, but not always. It can get a bit frustrating at times. The sensitivity does seem to be a bit off.

Video streaming seems to be another area that could do with some improvement. Considering that YouTube has made its presence quite evident on the PC and mobile and now next-gen Internet TVs, the F480 should have been better equipped to handle the site. The videos, even after buffering, look rather unwatchable. They frame and jitter so very badly it’s not worth straining your eyes. All other sites look pretty good though, and opening attachments is an easy task.

Setting up my Gmail account was simple. I was able to check my email with ease, so no issues here. However Samsung's however shown a dislike for Google. I know others who haven’t had a problem, yet the handsets I receive for testing tell a different story. I downloaded Gmail for Mobile and after signing in all I got was a screen showing "0KB Loading…" for an indefinite period of time. Ten minutes was all I was willing to wait before I gave up. I also downloaded Google Maps for Mobile, but for some reason that got stuck at 30%.

The F480 comes with an RSS reader and considering it has a 5MP camera I was hoping to download Shozu to upload images. Thankfully it was preloaded, but unfortunately it was absolutely useless. It took forever to try and connect, only to give a reason for failing to do so (Network Unavailable). I had the same issue with another Samsung handset. I wonder what the reason could be. I could access and log into my Shozu account easily enough via the browser, so I fail to see why the network should be unavailable.

The Opera browser that also comes preloaded had some problem. I double-checked and triple-checked the settings and still nothing happened. It would seem that although the F480 is Java-compliant, it’s not compliant enough.

Other connectivity options include Bluetooth with A2DP and of course proprietary USB v2.0.