Samsung Tocco

Although it is considered a trend, not everybody seems keen to rely solely on a touchscreen, and it are exactly these consumers that demand a general keypad. They're hesitant to switch to a full touchscreen operated mobile phone. The solution for this group is the Samsung Tocco. This mobile phone combines a general numeric keypad with a touchscreen, thus providing the user with two operating options.

Samsung Tocco handset (also called Samsung Ultra Touch, and Samsung S8300), with the included accessories located one level below. The phone comes standard with a battery charger, a headset, a memory card of 1GB including adapter, a data cable, instruction manuals and a software CD. Samsung Tocco can be considered compact yet bulky at the same time it may seem reasonably compact for a touchscreen phone, but for a slider, it is still rather bulky.

The handset is colored in grey or black with several red details. The edge around the screen is brushed aluminum and quite scratch prone, unlike the rest of the phone. The first impression is good, although the phone is slightly smaller than expected it to be. Samsung Tocco is its dual operation touchscreen and general numeric keypad at the same time. The idea is appreciated people who are not sure whether they like a touchscreen will still get a chance to work with it.

In fact, the common keys are superfluous, since every action can be done via the touchscreen. It is simply an extra option to enter phone numbers or write text messages. From experience, we know that you will start by using the keys, but from there you will soon move on to the touchscreen. It only takes some time to get used to, and it really does work well. You'd soon open the phone when in use, even if you don't use the keys.

Personally, I don't really like the phone's hand-fit when using the keys. As said before, the handset is just a tad too big for a slider phone. You will really notice it when sending a text message using one hand the space bar is located bottom right, and if you use it, the phone becomes top heavy.

You also have to confirm every setting via the touchscreen, there are no general keys available below the screen except for the answer or end call buttons. However, it is always an extra option to fall back on if you prefer not to use the touchscreen for sending text messages. I expect the user to work via the touchscreen in the end, which makes the phone needlessly heavy and bulky due to the available numeric keys.