Feature

SAMSUNG P310

Back in November 2005 Samsung came up with the P300, a quirky calculator-like phone. Here’s its successor, featuring the same kind of styling and some brilliant ideas in another take-no-prisoners package. So it’s a chromium-covered creditcard-sized handset with a brilliant panoramic display with an odd-feeling landscape layout, and a very clever leather case containing a second battery. 
The number pad is quirky, with just six keys: press on one side to select one number and on the other to select a second. Yes, it takes practice, typing mistakes are frequent. The large round four-way navigation control is also non-traditional – no centre-press for confirming. There’s a good music player; no standard headphone jack, though you do get stereo Bluetooth.

If you want a multi-functional user-friendly phone for everyday use, you’d better look elsewhere: the unpractical key layout will cause you numerous problems. But if you want a stylish if idiosyncratic handset, this is it.

• Oddball guaranteed to divide opinion but grab attention

FEATURES 85%
SALEABILITY 75%
 
 
SPECIFICATION
Size    
Length 86mm
Width 54mm
Depth 8.9mm
Weight    
55g
Main display    
TFT, 65K colours, 320x240pixels, 38x29mm
Camera    
2mp, video(CIF), flash
Connectivity    
Triband GSM, Bluetooth 1.2, USB
Battery    
Standby 300h
Talk time 6h
Features    
Music player, office document viewer, TV out