Samsung Tocco Ultra Review

Your Samsung Tocco Ultra S8300 Reviews

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Reviewer: Chas - UK
Date: 1st Apr 2011

Can anyone tell me how to change my text tone please? I have had the phone 2 years in May. Until one week ago the phone was fine. Suddenly my SIM fried then the Phone itself would not work i.e. No Sound on Music. No sound when Dialling or Even Receiving Calls So I took it in for Repair. It Came back Monday But now the Option to set my own Music as a Text Tone Is no Longer available any of my Music Files only Give the Option to Either Set as Voice call ringtone. Video call ringtone. Caller ringtone or Alarm tone. Before it needed Repairing I was Able to set my own Music as Text Tone. Other than this the Phone is OK. Although my Best ever Phone Was Samsung D500 (But that freezes when Texting now). Thank you in Advance for any Help.

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Reviewer: Chris - Manchester, UK
Date: 26th Mar 2011

I have had this phone now for 2 days & I think that it is a really easy phone to use. Everything works perfectly on it & it is very easy to make a call & message people this phone is good.

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Reviewer: Gillian - UK
Date: 17th Nov 2010

I have had this phone for 3 months now & I am already getting tired of it. When I am in the middle of a text or press something it just automatically switches off for no reason & I do agree the battery life is pretty rubbish I need to charge my phone for 3 hours to get it fully charged & that will only last a day even when I am just leaving it locked. I don't like the fact when you're using your phone when it is slid down it will lock after about 10 seconds.

Although the camera is amazing & it can hold my files fine I feel with Samsung's they unlock to easily in your bags & pockets. I don't like the fake call button it is really annoying & the fact it says 'unknown' whilst ringing.

Overall it is a good phone but I won't be buying a Samsung again for a whilst anyway.

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Reviewer: Amy - UK
Date: 15th Nov 2010

I have had this phone for a year now, so feel that this is definitely long enough to write a review!

Generally, I am very pleased with the Tocco Ultra. I am a Samsung fan & upgraded from the Soul; this is my first touch screen phone. I don't use the Internet, just use it for calling, texting & taking photos so the battery life isn't too bad.

The only issue I have is with the predictive text.

I started out looking at forums for help as, just like many other people, I find the predictive text can be frustrating!

As seems to be the case for many others, when I text using the predictive option, the phone doesn't 'offer' me the most commonly used words, but the ones I've added to the dictionary or (annoyingly) nonsense words which were accidentally mistyped. To type 'no', I have to scroll through 'on', 'mo', Oo' & 'oo'. I am sure I could re-add the word, but to do this for every word would be very time consuming & frustrating. I could just not use predictive text, but it's nice to have the option & it often saves a lot of time.

Using the 0 button to scroll through the options to pop in a punctuation mark is also frustrating. Firstly, I have to scroll down to the word I want to use. Then I add a punctuation mark, scroll to get the right one & end up back again with the first word & some random punctuation! I find that if you keep pressing 0 & scrolling, you eventually get the right combo, but it sometimes takes ages & all sorts of combinations!

If anyone knows how delete words from the dictionary without having to do a major master reset, please let me know :-) I assume it's just one of those things to put up with.

There are a few other bits & pieces that could be better (such as being able to choose a screen saver), but I guess it's all down to personal preference so I won't go into detail about these!

Overall, I don't think it's too bad but the whole texting issue does get on my nerves.

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Reviewer: Beckie - UK
Date: 11th Oct 2010

Never get this phone! If you're a textaholic like me then it breaks like a hundred times in less than a year.

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Reviewer: Amand - UK
Date: 28th Aug 2010

There is a back button when texting hold your finger on the screen for a few seconds & a direction bar appears on the screen.

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Reviewer: Zara - UK
Date: 28th Aug 2010

I've had this phone for about a year now & it's generally worked pretty well for me. The camera's amazing & most of the features are pretty decent.

The biggest letdown for me has got to be the battery life. I envy those people who can make their phone last for more than a day because quite frankly the 'Low Battery' sign tempts me to repeatedly slam my phone in a car door. The battery life has only worsened in the past couple of weeks. So until a while ago I was pretty content. Now, after having fully drained the battery & recharging to 100%, my phone dies within a few hours which is extremely unpractical for someone who relies on it as an alarm! I've thought about changing the battery but to be honest I really don't see the point.

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Reviewer: Darren Grocott - Stoke-on-trent, UK
Date: 20th Aug 2010

Bought the phone about 6 hours ago & already I have done some of the things that you guys are complaining about. The first thing I did was put some music on the memory card & set my ringtone & message tone, easy. Then after reading the reviews about the fake call going off in bags etc. I went & enabled something called Automatic Keypad locking, & set it to 'On Slide Down'. No problems yet with anything else, however I'll test the battery use tomorrow. So far this thing is great, just needs a bit of adaptability is all.

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Reviewer: Mike Z - Athens, Greece
Date: 15th Aug 2010

My S8300 was build in 2010 nothing to complain about the phone itself, there is no muting or switching off during charging. Great phone. You have to change memory settings to get rid of annoying 'low message delete some message'.

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Reviewer: Shona - Sheffield, UK
Date: 6th Aug 2010

I've had this phone for 6 months now & I've got to say it.

I LOVE it. There are a few things that I've read in other reviews & honestly, these people make themselves look insane.

The battery life of my tocco ultra is fantastic.

I don't think I have had a battery last as long with any of my other phones before this. I charge it up maybe once a week? If your battery life isn't lasting this long, have a look at the screen, if the Bluetooth is on then that's your problem. The phone comes with this already on.

The mute calls. There isn't any, in fact it's your own fault you are getting them. There is a nifty fake call button when the volume button is pressed down & held. It's to get you out of meetings, dates etc. Honestly people shouldn't complain about a phone if they haven't read the manual & know the functions.

The PC suite. Well, as of yet, there isn't any. There is a disk that comes with your phone, & it has a PC suite on it, but if you're using windows 7 you'll be waiting just like the rest of us. Samsung have yet to release software for all of us windows 7 users. Devastating if you're like me & use the PC for most things. Oh well, this is the reason for me that the phone didn't get 100% on each tier.

Touchy screen. I am a nail biter, & so navigating this screen is EASY for me. I get on with it so well. I very rarely use the onscreen keyboard, unless I want to delete a wrong letter. I got this phone because I hate texting on touch screens. It's a pet hate of mine. 'the illusive navigator' as someone called it is a GREAT feature, if you're on Facebook & you can't see the end of the sentence just slide the page where you want it to go. Easy peasy. I get on so well with the keyboard & the touch screen. I think you'd have to be a moron to not be able to use these functions.

The camera's great. 8MP easy to use. Flash etc. Thumbs up.

I've really enjoyed this phone, I like how I can choose what's on my screen, I like how the alarm only ever has to be set once to get you up for work throughout the entire year. I love that that it's stylish, & have found also that it's incredibly easy to use. I am a manual reader, & therefore knew the functions of the phone before it had its first charge. I think if you're going to whinge about a phone, know a function before you start moaning.

It texts, calls, takes great pictures, keeps me entertained & lets me check my fb every 5 seconds. What more do I want from my phone.

If you want a computer, get a computer. If you want a handheld wonder gadget, up your budget!

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Reviewer: Deb - UK
Date: 4th Aug 2010

I loved my phone. Bit of time needed to get used to it & a few quirks along the way that are a little annoying. But show me a phone that does everything & doesn't take a bit of getting used to.

Battery life is pretty rubbish but generally you can just plug it in & recharge.

Widgets are a waste of time but maybe that is because I haven't been bothered with them too much.

So why I loved my phone? Since it was 4 weeks old it has taken to randomly turning itself off. I was advised a software download would rectify this except due to a fault this couldn't be done. I am now 5 months down the line & still the phone shuts down. If I wasn't so pig headed & refusing to claim on insurance for something that has been wrong since new it would now surely be sorted. Maybe common sense should take hold & I should just send it back to Samsung for repairing as I am otherwise happy with the vagueness on the touch screen & its other quirky habits.

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Reviewer: Erika - Purley, UK
Date: 7th Jul 2010

Battery is going down very quickly & I have only a time on my screen how do I set a date on my screen too? Sometimes I want to know what the date is so I would like to have it like with my previous Samsung when I opened my phone there was a time & date on the screen. Could not get use to this phone for a long time. Absolutely hate it & don't think I will get another touch screen phone. Its very sensitive to every touch when you don't need it & when you need it it does not work.

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Reviewer: Mike The Director - Hampshire, UK
Date: 29th Jun 2010

The existing reviews of this phone are schizoid, users either love it or despise it with a passion rarely seen. I hated it & have given up. All I need a phone to do is make calls & take sharp pictures. This phone was my first non Sony Ericsson for about a decade. It arrived on Thursday, I struggled with it through the weekend but the final blow was its failure to recognise the O2 network on Monday morning. A trip to the O2 shop in Coventry, & a chat with the O2 Guru, revealed a hardware fault. By this time I had had enough. O2 shipped a new Sony Ericsson W995 which arrived on Tuesday morning. Cost me a few pounds, but for a trusted brand & reliable function, it's worth it

So, to summarise, the Samsung Tocco Ultra S8300 is a good-looking triumph of style over substance

- The touch screen is too sensitive, several calls were cut off in mid chat.

- The handbook didn't even tell you how to change the date & time, the information IS NOT IN the HANDBOOK. I spent several days with the date showing January 2005 before a kind person in the O2 shop in Winchester told me the secret, ignore the little tab in the corner of the time field & the date field, just tap the part of the screen showing the time or date that you with to change, BUT IT IS NOT INTUITIVE!

- In an attempt to be even-handed in this review, last night I downloaded the studio software which shipped with the phone. The studio software seems to be a well designed, well thought through suite of programs which link the S8300 to your PC. BUT it takes forever to install (well over an hour) with several confusion 'not found' messages before you realise that it has, in fact, installed.

- The touch screen suffers from 'fat finger' syndrome, unless you are an anorexic stick insect, you'll have problems using the touch screen.

- Final Killer, the contacts stored on my SIM card, when I opened contacts in the Samsung, were listed as 'four characters from the christian name, then a colon, then half the surname.

Not fit for purpose. I am back to Sony Ericsson.

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Reviewer: Kevin - UK
Date: 22nd Jun 2010

I've had mine for a year now & I can't stand it.

Texting is a nightmare if you have normal size fingers

The slide out keyboard is rubbish & a waste of time (why even have it on a touch screen phone)?

The silly widget feature gets in the way all the time (especially when the text or missed call alert comes up).

It keeps telling me to delete SMS messages even though I have lots of memory left.

It mutes when I am on a call (I have a feeling this is because the touch screen mute button is in the exact place your ear goes).

It keeps telling me about missed calls, even when I hit exit

The software doesn't work with windows 7

When the battery is low is goes on a vibrating rampage every couple of minutes which is REALLY annoying & eats the battery up even quicker, it's like having a hungry baby.

The only good thing about it is the camera, shame it's a phone.

Wish I'd got the iPhone, if anyone out there is crazy enough I'd be happy to swap.

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Reviewer: Ann - UK
Date: 8th Jun 2010

My old phone died & I got this one instead. I just want to drive over it. Several times! Not a good phone.

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Reviewer: Chris - Glasgow, UK
Date: 6th Jun 2010

This is my 3rd Samsung & it's the worst. No backward button for mistakes with texting. Needs improving. Can anyone help with this problem though?

Why am I repeatedly getting the message to DELETE SMS MEMORY FULL when I only have 4 messages in my inbox & everything else is cleared. Only folders have texts in them. What can I do? It's driving me nuts!

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Reviewer: Paul - Solihull, UK
Date: 17th May 2010

Can't add much to the list of complaints, I've had similar issues with Samsung S8300. This phone really is a piece of garbage, will not touch Samsung with a stick in future.

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Reviewer: Deborah - UK
Date: 16th May 2010

I had the first Tocco when it came out & I loved it. I am not a phone genius & I am pretty standard at texting, so I was majorly surprised at how well I got on with a touch screen.

This, however, has been a huge disappointment.

I'll start with the few good points: the camera, the effects you can do with your photos; media player; comes with decent memory.

Basically, if you love surfing the net & all the gizmos of an iPhone then it's not too bad.

Bad points, texting is clumsy, though you will get used to the touch screen. Anyone who says it's not is not lying, but they may not have experienced a good quality touch screen like the HTC Hero & Desire or the old Tocco. This is for the simple reason that the phone has been overloaded with other gadgets & upgrading the chip would cost too much, causing the touch sensitivity to suffer majorly.

I've tried pressing the screen for this elusive navigator to appear but it won't, this could be a glitch with my particular phone.

The slide out keypad is difficult to text on as it's very stiff & clumsy again.

The battery life is not great for someone like me who is relatively forgetful. Having to charge up your phone every night uses pointless electricity. Sounds minor, but it's true. Moreover, you shouldn't have to trawl the Internet for a battery for a brand new supposedly, all the rage phone.

One thing that may help is turning off the keypad tone. After I managed this it made texting & scrolling around a lot easier. Also, the volume key on the side doubles up as a scroller for anyone who finds the touch screen unresponsive.

This has made my decision as to whether to keep the phone or move it on a lot harder to make, because it's not an absolutely awful phone though I will admit I've wanted to smash it to pieces in the 5 days I've had it. I face a bit of a dilemma because Phones 4 you decided to give me an outrageous deal & Orange aren't too happy about it, they say they won't talk about alternative handsets until I've sent this one back.

I would highly recommend anyone to try before they buy. I went with this one because I thought it was just going to be a better version of my old model. I couldn't be more wrong.

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Reviewer: Alana Brook - Huddersfield, UK
Date: 30th Apr 2010

I am loving my phone. Got it in August & still enjoying it, I need help with something though, I have just bought a memory card for it as it doesn't really save many messages on my SIM card, so I am finding it hard to be able to switch my memory over so I can store more things like text messages etc. I get about 10 messages & its saying I have to delete some as I have messages waiting, so ideally I want to be able to receive messages & store them on my memory, can anyone help?

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Reviewer: B Haddow - Stockton, UK
Date: 23rd Apr 2010

Every time you make a call the silly thing goes to mute, does anyone know how to take this off?

Worst phone ever.

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Reviewer: Kelly - Manchester, UK
Date: 22nd Apr 2010

Does anybody know how to block numbers on this phone like you could with old Samsungs? Cheers.

Also, love this phone however there are a few issues I have had with it.
- Whenever I answer a call it goes to mute.
- Battery life is awful.
- Fake call activates frequently when side button caught in pocket etc.
- The missed call thing that keeps popping up is really annoying & had to delete missed calls regularly.

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Reviewer: Jackie - Gosport, UK
Date: 22nd Apr 2010

I have had this phone for a year now & there is one thing I am struggling to live with, the predictive text. The phone is full of words that do not exist, like Rm comes up when I type in the word so. This is driving me nuts & I am a patient person, no one can understand my text messages! Does anyone know how to delete these things from the internal dictionary? PLEASE?

Apart from that I really like the phone, the camera is excellent, I have abandoned my camera for the one on the Tocco, it is so much better than any camera I have used before, & EASY!

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Reviewer: Kim - Norfolk, UK
Date: 24th Mar 2010

This is my 3rd Samsung. I got this phone in June 2009 so far it's great. I've had no real problems with it. The camera is fine I love how you can change the settings to suit what you're taking a picture of e.g. Taking a picture of something close up & using the text setting (: Texting is easy I've had to add a few words though & I still don't know how to un add which is rather annoying. My phone only puts people on hold when I ring them & I've not locked it which is probably why. I saw reviews about battery life well mine is fine I am texting 24/7 which does mean I have to charge almost every night this can be annoying but if you knew about the battery life before & knew how much you rang or text people then it's your own fault.

Calling people is fine & so is my music player & as for the fake call problem not for me I turn it off or lock my phone.

My only problems are also to do with the date, I have the date up as a reminder & it told me it was yesterday & I knew this was wrong but on the calendar it's the right date so no major worries for me there. Mine does lag a bit but I know this is because I have a 4GB memory card & it's more than half full. The other problem is the camera at the front I've not used this because it's only for video calls which is quite upsetting as this would have been a good feature. The video you film are not at the best quality but if you add movies on to your phone it's amazing you can turn it to make it bigger as well. In the winter as well it became a problem with the touch screen & my gloves but a problem with all phones.

I've had no real problem with Samsung's my last one I dropped down 4 flights of stairs it separated but worked exactly the same after I was pleased with this (: I read bad reviews before I got my phone it worried me a bit but I had a trail & didn't want to give it back.

Overall I am still loving this phone almost a year on & it really is great & no problems with it. So far.

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Reviewer: Sarah - Herts, UK
Date: 18th Mar 2010

This phone is amazing once used to it. As someone has already said how can anyone review after a couple of minutes or hours. Most of the problems people are moaning about ARE solvable!

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Reviewer: Anabel - UK
Date: 3rd Mar 2010

Had this phone on a new contract loved it at first but after a few months the problem started. The phone switches off each time you try & charge it happened so many times sent it back to Vodafone who after forth return to repair shop exchanged for another phone. 2 months into this phone same fault occurring again. Finally changing to a totally new phone via a different company. Beware!

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Reviewer: Mr Average - UK
Date: 28th Feb 2010

In answer to Fiona of Huddersfield:

There is a fair few steps involved, but here goes.

- Open your Menu, then Settings, then Phone Profiles, then clock on the >> Symbol beside whichever profile you mostly use (probably Normal). From there you can edit your call settings (alert type, ringtone etc).

- At the top right of this screen is a drop down box where you can select from 3 menus, one is the options menu you are currently in, the other 2 involve messaging & phone sounds.

Hope this helps.

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Reviewer: Fiona - Huddersfield, UK
Date: 24th Feb 2010

I like Samsung phones, I am kind of getting on with this one but I have never had a touch phone before but what I can't do & am annoyed with is change my text message tone, so if any one knows how to please help, thank you.

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Reviewer: Tony Robinson - Yeovil, UK
Date: 12th Feb 2010

Lovely build quality but very difficult to use. The touch screen is very hit & miss, mostly miss, unless you happen to have the nimblest of oriental digits.

The phone comes with a USB driver for connecting to your PC. It doesn't work with Vista or Windows 7. The web is full of people with complaints about it & Samsung don't seem interested in fixing it.

If I had to choose again I'd go for the Nokia.

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Reviewer: Graham - Edinburgh, UK
Date: 12th Feb 2010

You need to add the message create widget onto the widget display list then drag it across the screen & it stays there. Inbox message is the same process.

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Reviewer: Kristina - Brighton, UK
Date: 18th Jan 2010

Gradually working out how to do various things with this phone, thanks to some of the threads below, e.g. moving cursor within text messages etc. Wonder if anyone has worked out a shortcut to get a blank text message up, instead of going through menu, messaging, create message, type of message, contacts etc before finally being able to write a text? On my Samsung U600 it was just a case of pushing the left of the central rocker button, then going to letters setting, choosing a recipient, confirming it & writing the message. Someone from Orange said there should be a widget for messages, i.e. an envelope in the left column, but can't find it. Still having problems with apostrophes, maybe it's just a case of not being too worried about grammar etc!

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Reviewer: Trevor Milford - UK
Date: 17th Jan 2010

The phone is almost impossible to put onto speakerphone in a hurry, the fake call feature is the most annoying in the world as it goes off every time I put it in the car cradle. The camera is rubbish, zoom is terribly slow & jerky, the auto focus on mine has stopped working & it will only focus on things not more than 6 inches from the lens. The music player does not go loud enough. Battery life is completely terrible & won't even last the day if you have Bluetooth enabled. The video capture is bad & cannot be used if high noise as it just distorts everything.

Touch screen works when it feels like it & doesn't work well if you have large fingers. The phone keeps saving things to the phone memory when I have selected memory card.

Every time I answer the phone & put it to my ear it puts the call on hold. ITS TOTAL RUBBISH SAMSUNG SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF THEMSELVES!

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Reviewer: Emma - Carshalton, UK
Date: 13th Jan 2010

When I first got the phone I was really impressed & happy with it. That was back in may 09. In September 2009 it started playing up. The phone thought it was being charged when it wasn't, which meant I couldn't use it.

Then when I did plug it in it wouldn't charge. Connect it to my PC & the phone thought it was being charged. Took it back to shop they sent it off for repair twice. Now they have lost it. They offered me a Samsung Jet? Can anyone tell me if it's any good?

Don't bother buying Tocco this seems to be quite a common problem. & always send to Samsung yourself for repair.

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Reviewer: Graham - Edinburgh, UK
Date: 13th Jan 2010

Have just received this phone & after reading some of the advice on this site, I have had very few problems using this phone. Just a few minor problems where it has not recognised a tap on the screen but I'd say overall the touch screen saves time & is easier to use because more functions can be displayed. The screen & camera are excellent.

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Reviewer: Alison - South Wales, UK
Date: 12th Jan 2010

HATE IT, HATE IT, HATE IT. I am on my third phone & only had my contract 8 months! The internal microphone keeps on giving up which means when I answer a call the phone automatically puts the caller on mute! How annoying! Orange have refused point blank to help me. Please use your head & do NOT buy this phone!

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Reviewer: Dale - Lichfield, UK
Date: 31st Dec 2009

At last I can now receive music sounds for text alerts, thanks to Steve from Stourbridge. Great tip mate.

I had the phone a week ago & am slowly getting used to it. The touch screen takes some doing but otherwise it's a good phone, well so far.

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Reviewer: Steffan - UK
Date: 14th Dec 2009

This phone is the worst handset I have owned & I have had a Sony C905 well 3 in total then like a fool was given the Tocco Ultra instead of the C905 BIG MISTAKE. I had it 3 weeks & it says inactive SIM, deactivated SIM, no network, no network coverage no access to network & something about no server whatever that means? & I get a new one & now 6 months down the line & when I plug the charger in it thinks it's connected to my PC? & that's only when I can get it to charge it will not connect properly & I'm so frustrated with trying to get it to charge does anyone else have this problem? Also it shows up all the marks so badly mine looks terrible & my girlfriends looks 1000000 times worse (she made the mistake of getting one too) but to be honest she does treat it like dirt & the irony of it, hers works as its supposed to! The battery life is so poor within hours it depletes its self just through texting & talking! & this outstanding 8mega cam that is supposed to be 'outstanding' my eye is it you take a picture & it zooms in too far missing out what you want to take a picture of & the flash is pointless making the picture look rubbish! Looking at it right now I want to smash it & I can't wait until I can upgrade next January I will never have Samsung now or Sony for that fact I would sooner go back the LG Viewty & that was a joke! DO NOT GET THIS PHONE IT WILL BE the WORST MISTAKE YOU MAKE FOR the NEXT 18 MONTHS OF YOU LIFE!

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Reviewer: Steve - Stourbridge, UK
Date: 12th Dec 2009

Great phone, never had a touch screen before so does take a bit of getting used, took a couple of hours but have mastered it. If you make a mistake whilst texting, press the screen where there is no text & it will bring up some arrows, touch the left arrow & it will allow you to move to the mistake without deleting the whole word. You can also change your message alerts to your own MP3's too. Go into settings, then phone profiles. Where it says Incoming at the top right of the screen, press it & it will open another box which has new message. Press that & you can select message alert tone & choose your own stored MP3's. Hope this will help people. P.S. I have big fingers & do not find it a problem texting at all! Enjoy the phone guys.

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Reviewer: April - Oxford, UK
Date: 10th Dec 2009

I have had this phone for 2 days & I hate it, looks lovely & all that but I prefer the F480, at least when I press a number my speed dial come up, only if you press 1 the answer machine number dials up. I followed the book to the letter & added my speed dials but it doesn't dial the number.

Texting is another story, I also cannot download any data saved on my memory card from the old phone to the new & I cannot use the new SIM in my old phone as it apparently has a SIM lock which I have never done before & the code given to me doesn't work.

This phone is going back, & I am a huge fan of Samsung, but not his phone.

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Reviewer: Chris - Halifax, UK
Date: 28th Nov 2009

I love the look of this phone, it is a little hard to navigate at first. Camera is awesome although a little slow.

I found that if I have the ring tone on loud when you answer it the person on the other end blasts you ear drum, so you need to turn it down while raising it to your ear. But my main problem is I have only owned it for 6 months & am on my third, just waiting for my forth! I have some software issue, the day is correct but the date is the day before. Today is Sat 28 November 2009 but my phone says its Fri 28 November 2009, I have been late for work twice this week because the date is messing up alarm!

I am on a 24 month contract so I hope this isn't going to be an ongoing fault, surely I can't be the only person in the UK that has this problem : (.

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Reviewer: Theresa - Sheffield, UK
Date: 11th Nov 2009

TEXT MESSAGING FINALLY SORTED. When you have made a mistake keep your finger on the screen & a box will appear at the bottom with up, down, right & left arrows for you to move to where you want to be in the text message. Love this phone now :-).

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Reviewer: Kieran - Liverpool, UK
Date: 30th Oct 2009

Some of you are winging a lot! This is a good phone, maybe the battery life is poor, do what I did? I nearly doubled my battery life by buying a high capacity 1500mAh battery off eBay for 5 pound,

The original battery is 880mAh if the battery life isn't good (I didn't think it was!) buy a better battery.

I love this phone, camera everything is perfect, only thing I don't like is the fact that it's both touch screen & keypad. It sort of does my head in when it comes to texting, apart from this it's a brilliant phone with an awesome design!

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Reviewer: Joanne - Cambridge, UK
Date: 20th Oct 2009

I need help bad! I have had this phone about two weeks.

When I take a picture it looks okay until I view it & it automatically like zooms in & you can't go back out. I have looked all through manual & can't find it anywhere.

Has anyone had this problem if so please help will be very appreciated!

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Reviewer: Michael Campbell - Glasgow, UK
Date: 7th Oct 2009

I won't echo everyone else's review so I will be brief.

Bear in mind I am a Samsung fan. My last 4 phones have been Samsung (over the space of the last 5 to 6 years or so).

Good Points.
- Design.
- Camera.
- Keys.
- Call & speaker clarity & volume.
- I like slider phones (activating a received call by sliding it out & ending a call by closing it).
- That's all I can say on the good points.

Bad Points.
- Touch screen is terrible & a lot worse than the F480 which I have owned for 18 months. It really is 2 steps backwards, pressing things repeatedly.
- Texting awful (both touch screen & keys) (see reviews below).
- Widgets are a waste of time due to the bad touch screen.
- Interface doesn't feel that great.

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Reviewer: Kath - Cheltenham, UK
Date: 24th Sep 2009

I am a Samsung devotee & have been ever since I had the first of my now 5 Samsungs. I have read some reviews which are utter hogwash, so here is mine.

Good points.
- Phone is very stylish, has the weight to feel like quality unlike some of the modern cheap plastic phones like Nokia's. Lovely big screen with bold colours.
- As a Samsung user I got to grips with the phone without referring to the pretty useless handbook, within the first day.
- If you've read some of the reviews I have, ignore any that say there's no room for music or it's difficult to choose a track as your ringtone. Simply incorrect, I put my old SIM card in & within 30 seconds had chosen & set a track as my ringtone. Find the track in the music player & you will have the option from there to set as ringtone. Simple.

Bad Points.
- Battery life very poor to be honest, & I don't surf the net on my phone. My last Samsung would last a week with my typical usage easily, often longer, this one has to be charged every 3 days or so.
- When you have a missed call the message pops up every time you use the phone for about 2 days, very annoying.
- Texting is not the problem some people seem to portray it as, however, if using a word which does not come up first choice, I find it quickest & easiest to switch to ABC mode & enter it longhand.
- Scrolling through the phonebook can be a bit hit & miss, but again, I have read reviews that say you have to scroll right from top to bottom to get to the end of your phonebook. Again incorrect, there is a set of two arrows in the top left hand of the section, which you can use for swift scrolling through the alphabet.

In summary, the phone is a quality item & Samsung users will take to it quickly. For those switching to Samsung I would have to say that the handbook is over simplified. Although I don't have any problems using the touch screen, it may not suit blokes with big fingers.

The bad points are far outweighed by the good. Samsung need to develop a battery which lasts longer however.

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Reviewer: Marie Kent - UK
Date: 15th Sep 2009

I used this phone for 4 days before I just had to take it back to the shop before I smashed it! Only to realise that the well known phone shop don't exchange phones anymore. I was so desperate for a good old Nokia instead I ended up nearly crying when I found I may have to keep this for 18 months! Talk about frustrating.

Good points.
- Looks stunning.
- Bad points.
- The camera is good but way too slow to capture.
- Texting is a nightmare & very fiddly, no back button (you have to tap the screen but it's so hit & miss).
- Widgets are useless as the wrong ones come & sometimes you have to click a fair few times to get the widget you need.
- The battery life is awful, I had an N95 which needs charging quite regular as they do so much but this was terrible & I couldn't have trusted to be out all day with it without it dying when I needed it most.
- The big one for me was when I made calls. The voice call sound quality was terrible! Vibrations & muffled when volume is up. When volume is down you can't hear any way!

It has put my mind at rest I don't ever want a touch screen, I have had Samsung before (D600) & had no problems & found it quite an OK phone but will now stick with Nokia, now nursing a N86 with great delight & relief the Samsung has gone, good riddance.

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Reviewer: Chris - Sherborne, UK
Date: 6th Sep 2009

Had this phone for less than 24 hours before I was on the phone to send it back due to problems with the phone & completely un user friendly.

Phone problems.

- the phone turned itself off whenever the charger was inserted.
- the phone turned itself off whenever I tried to connect it to my PC.
- the PC software is ENORMOUS & a nightmare to get rid off! Might only be 1 install but it is nearly 20 uninstalls!
- the phone refused to accept my contacts of my old Sony phone.

User issues.

- the only features I could use were calling (sounded like the recipient was on speaker phone) & texting, the predictive text is unusable! With no logic or ability to see words before scrolling through.

AVOID LIKE the PLAGUE! Do not be tempted by the features, their only good if they work!

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Reviewer: Candice - South Africa
Date: 1st Sep 2009

How do you prevent the phone from switching off automatically when the battery is running low?

I am finding this extremely irritating. My previous phone was a Samsung D900i & when the battery was low, the phone could still make calls & send SMS's, however you could not operate applications such as play music, use the Internet etc.

Is there any way that my Samsung S8300 can do the same thing?

Please let me know! Thanks :).

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Reviewer: Steve - Bolton, UK
Date: 27th Aug 2009

The phone looks the business, but it is absolutely USELESS! Do not buy it. I lose more calls than I keep. The touch screen is so sensitive that it does things that you do not want it to do. I have friends & colleagues who also have this phone & they are of the same opinion. If your ear touches the screen when you are talking, it cuts off the call, HOW PATHETIC IS THAT?!

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Reviewer: Dan Searle - Portsmouth, UK
Date: 22nd Aug 2009

Yes, the Samsung Tocco Ultra S8300 is a fantastic piece of technology, great 8MP camera, great screen graphics & fidelity, easy to use touch screen, lots of snazzy subtle enhancements in the way the applications are loaded & managed, all in all a really solid & sleek phone that no doubt cost a fortune for Samsung to develop.

So why, as a pre existing user of a Samsung phone, do I want to smash it with a sledgehammer?

Because Samsung have made some senseless changes to some of the tried & tested basic functionality of the phone. Changes that buy you NOTHING but a whole load of heartache for existing Samsung users, changes that wholly obliterate the positive feeling you had with all its sleekiness & snazziness. The list is long, but these are the lowlights.

- No easy way to control the cursor in a text message, the large button at the front of the phone that you think would move the cursor just cancels the message. Placing your finger on the touch screen to place the cursor is next to impossible to control with any level of accuracy.

- This has always been a naff annoyance with Samsung phones, but when you backspace to clear a word you have to be careful not to press the button too quickly or it deletes your entire 6 page message. Conversely, when you actually want the backspace button to delete the entire entry, e.g. When you're trying to add a word to the phone's dictionary it only deletes one character for every press!

- In the add word function, the software writers forgot to add the box that tells you when you're in uppercase or lowercase, & it defaults to uppercase, which is odd as 9 out of 10 times you don't need your (more often than not slang or swear word! ) to begin with a capital letter.

- the dictionary seems very limited, some very basic words are missing, words that were in the old my 3 year old Samsung phone's dictionary. Odd, & annoying.

- When in predictive text you type them & switch it to then using the 0+ key, & then add an exclamation mark or full stop it reverts back to them. Why? My 3 year old Samsung didn't do this, & logically nor should it of course. So you have to press the # key before you add the punctuation, BUT that then adds a space, so you have to backspace first before you add the punctuation. Complete nonsense.

- When you type a word the dictionary doesn't recognise it gives you every conceivable string it can imagine, even if your word was 3 letters, it then suggests 4 letter words, 5, 6, 7. Etc until you've hit the 0+ key about 50 times & then you finally get the add word option. If I typed a 3 letter word, guess what, I probably don't need to see every 4 to 10 letter word alternative.

- This is a minor irritation but nevertheless a completely senseless change on Samsung's part. Whereas you used to punctuate your texts but pressing the * key, & you would get a full stop, followed by a comma etc. Now comma is 4th in the list, why? How is this an enhancement? It's like having to learn to ride a bike again.

- A left swipe on the touch screen enables you to shortcut the open menu option, wow, what a time saving shortcut, apart from the fact the open menu button is permanently on the front screen, so how is a swipe a shortcut versus a key select? This phone is quite heavy & solid, which is a positive aspect, but it also means it slides around in your hand a little, resulting in inadvertent swipes on the touch screen, so the ability to right & left swipe on the screen are added functionality that are just completely unnecessary & bring more pain than they ever bring joy.

I dare say some of the criticisms above are unwarranted, I dare say that if I spent a month doing searches on Google I'd find the solution to some of these problems, but the point is, should I have to? Shouldn't it be intuitive? & why when it always was intuitive, have Samsung come up with non intuitive enhancements?

In summary the Ultra Tocco is great piece of kit totally ruined by some daft changes to the basic & essential functions which just leave the user feeling totally frustrated. I can't recommend this phone to anyone who is a heavy text user, which is probably half the world. Massive own goal Samsung energy. In 2 days charge off. Have you same problem. & what did do about this problem. Thanks.

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Reviewer: Anon - South Yorkshire, UK
Date: 18th Aug 2009

You can get navigation arrows up that allow you to scroll through a text message without deleting all your text but this only works if you are texting with the keypad. You simply press & hold on a blank part of the screen & a line of navigation arrows appear.

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Reviewer: Deb - Liverpool, UK
Date: 10th Jul 2009

I have solved my problem, phew.

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Reviewer: Deb - Liverpool, UK
Date: 10th Jul 2009

Has anyone else's text on the messages they receive suddenly gone massive? I can't get rid of it & it's annoying.

Very hard to text especially with false nails & also when you notice a mistake you have to delete everything as the cursor never goes where you want it to.

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Reviewer: Tony - Plymouth, UK
Date: 1st Jul 2009

Has anyone worked out yet how to delete an entry to the T9 dictionary!

I have not worked it out yet & I have had the phone since it was released LOL.

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Reviewer: Donna - UK
Date: 29th Jun 2009

I found adding the speed dial quite easy once I sat & thought about it. Make sure the person you want to add is saved on the phone (not just the sim). Go to the drop down menu in contacts & select favorites touch the screen in the first box the add whoever you want to add. The same applies for assigning a ring tone to a certain person, the contact must be saved to the phone not just the SIM.

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Reviewer: Donna - Macclesfield, UK
Date: 28th Jun 2009

Can someone please tell me how you delete a word. I know how to delete with the little arrow button but cannot suss out how to delete a word at the top of the screen when my cursor is at the bottom.

I've only had this phone 2 days & it's driving me mad, it takes ages to text & if I notice a mistake I am having to delete everything to get back to the typo, whereever it may be.

I also find that trying to view a message is also a real pain too, takes lots of presses on the view button to make it work.

Any ideas?

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Reviewer: Sandra - Wigan, UK
Date: 25th Jun 2009

I love this phone, have had it about three weeks now, it's very like My MP3 player (Samsung YP P3) which also has a touch screen with widgets, so I am use to the features of this phone. I did think however that the use of vivid texting was included as it was on my D900i, I am a little disappointed.

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Reviewer: Bri - UK
Date: 21st Jun 2009

I am going from a phone which had touch screen so I found this was easy & the texting with the keypad was something special I would really recommend this phone! I have no complaints :).

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Reviewer: Alison - Chester, UK
Date: 15th Jun 2009

What a nightmare. I have always used Samsung mobile phones & got this one two days ago. Today I sold it on eBay! Firstly if you have acrylic nails, forget it, it only works on finger touch. It takes forever to do a text message & when you receive one you cannot scroll down without losing the text. It takes forever to get the correct contact. The widget bar is just a joke, not keeping things on the menu. The last straw was NO SPEED DIAL option. The second I discovered this it went on eBay. Back to my G600 for another 12 months!

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Reviewer: Ruby - Kent, UK
Date: 13th Jun 2009

You CAN change the text tone (I know as I've done it! ) Depending on where you've saved stuff it can be a bit fiddly but it is possible.

When you go into the setting the profile screen, change it to the text message settings. If you look at the bottom right hand side of the screen there should be a button marked SOUNDS, if you click on this you should be able to change your text tones accordingly.

Bear in mind that, obviously the phone doesn't support all types of files & that although the phone may have various applications etc sometimes when they're branded by the phone companies (Orange etc) they disable certain features.

Fiddly to put an apostrophe in your texts though!

I've had the phone just over a week & only charged it twice (one initial charge after playing with it when I first got it & then a partial charge after about 4 days, having been using Bluetooth a lot to receive stuff from my old phone). If you're a heavy user & have all the wonderful applications running all the time (Bluetooth etc) of course this will eat the battery. Don't forget how small these batteries really are!

If you want to you can turn your phone off at night, set the alarm to go off anyway & then turn it back on in the morning. You also won't be disturbed by late night drunken texts although, of course, this is no good if you do want to get those late night calls etc.

You can also turn the screen brightness down & lessen the time the backlight & screen stays on.

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Reviewer: Burt - York, UK
Date: 11th Jun 2009

This phone is just awful Samsung have got it wrong looks lovely but nightmare to use best place for it is the bin as gets you so frustrated takes about 10 minutes (no joke) just to find a name out of your phonebook would never go touch screen again I am afraid.

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Reviewer: Em - Solihull, UK
Date: 8th Jun 2009

Can anyone help?

I'll just say that all in all this is a very good phone although the usual about battery life, texting & camera are all still valid points after about 28 days worth of use.

I cannot get any of the speed dial numbers to work. I followed all instructions in the next to useless manual. Even went into my local 3 store where I purchased said phone & they can't set the speed dials either!

It would be great if someone out there could let me know their speed dials work as then I won't continue to think that it is a model issue & not just my handset.

Incidentally I rang Samsung & they said that sometimes some of the applications can contradict each other which causes a software problem. Can you believe it? !

Em.

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Reviewer: Kim - UK
Date: 5th Jun 2009

Absolutely couldn't get on with this handset at all.

I received it free as an upgrade & was very excited to get it, especially as I'd never had a touch screen before. The 8 megapixel camera was also a big pull.

Within a couple of days, I was sure that it wasn't the phone for me but I kept on persevering to give myself more time to get used to it. The biggest negative for me was the appalling battery life. I would switch my phone on at about 9am, & it would be fully charged. After one 15 minute phone call, the battery would drop a bar. After about 10 minutes on the Internet, it would drop another bar. By about 4pm, the battery would be dead. From that, I'd probably have sent about 8 to 10 texts, gone on the Internet for a total of about an hour & maybe made one short phone call. It got that bad that I had to buy a cheap back up phone to keep with me when the Tocco Ultra died. I knew I wouldn't be able to put up with that for 18 months & when I rang Vodafone to send it back, they suggested it might be a fault with the battery. I was sent a new handset but it was just the same. They suggested things I could switch off & deactivate to prolong the battery life but I don't see why all of those things should be on the phone if they can't give it a battery to sustain them.

As for whether it's user friendly, I did have some problems. I found the buttons hard work with me being a heavy texter, & the touch screen was sometimes unresponsive. I also had terrible trouble with phone calls. It was common for the phone to just cut out whilst I was in the middle of a call when there was no reason for it to. I was so irritated by it after 10 days that I had to change it for another handset. I tend to learn quickly with handsets & knew that if it was still getting on my nerves after that amount of time, then it wasn't the phone for me.

The one thing I really will miss is the 8 megapixel camera. The quality was excellent & produced some really good photos, but unfortunately disappointed.

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Reviewer: S A - UK
Date: 19th May 2009

Had this phone for 2 weeks now & love it really easy to use, even the texting. Only 1 thing could anyone tell me how to get messages to save to phone instead of sim because have to keep deleting them because it only holds 20 on sim. Thanks.

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Reviewer: Louise - London, UK
Date: 13th May 2009

I bought the blue version of this phone last month (more subtle than the red if your interested) it's a very nice looking phone, bit heavier than I thought but generally very smart.

I have never had a touch screen phone before so this really takes some getting used to! It does have the keypad of course which you can use for texting etc, which is great!

There are a few adjustments I had to make from my previous phone (the Samsung D900i) such as the phone book displays names only & not numbers, I like to have both. The silly widget menu that comes up on the main screen. The amount of times that keeps opening by accident!

Texting is a little harder in this phone as people have said but you do get used to it, the web browsing can be a bit hard as well but again just takes getting used to!
Camera is good, have taken some pictures & managed to download them (if I can anyone can trust me!) not used it outside yet so can't comment on that.

Overall a really smart phone, it does take a little getting used to especially if you have never used a touch screen so bear that in mind, I've had it a month now & getting much more used to it & not had any problems. My last 3 phones have all been Samsung so will happily stick with them!

P.S Re the battery life, I don't have a problem with this, don't think any Samsung phones have great battery life but I can't see that being a big deal, just plug it in!

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Reviewer: Asim - London, UK
Date: 12th May 2009

As an upgrade from the N95, Samsung have done an amazing job designing this phone. Unfortunately it doesn't perform as good as it looks.

Battery life is the main issue. I left home this morning at 9am, battery fully charged, used the phone for about an hour during the day, got home at 5pm & only 1 bar is left on the battery. It's not very 'mobile', if you need to ration the battery to hope it lasts till you get home.

Another issue is you cannot change the text message tone. If you're a mobile guru who loves to install the latest apps & java games, forget it. All my favourite games from my N95 get an Out of memory error & don't load up.

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Reviewer: Taminca - UK
Date: 10th May 2009

Love it. Love it. Love it. I am a total Samsung girl. I wasn't too sure about the touch tone side of things but finding that OK. I love nearly everything about this phone. I only have one complaint. I don't like how when pressing dial to call someone it has ALL communication history. Calls & texts! This I don't like, all I want to see is who I have dialled etc. There's no need to show text info as well. But, this could just be me being silly & I have not figured out how to stop that!

Overall, I am so loving it. I would of awarded 100% in all 3 categories but there's always room for improvement!

Well done Samsung!

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Reviewer: Alan - Brokmans Park, UK
Date: 7th May 2009

This is a lovely bit of multimedia kit but lacks ease of use as a phone. It does not have voice dial or even single key speed dial & lacks navigation keys for text or email. Using groups for contacts is very useful for me but then I found that the PC Software ignores them so backups are next to useless. It lacks the hash key for special characters & the battery is underpowered. But it looks terrific & the touch interface is addictive. Somebody please finish it off with a few widget apps to make it useable.

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Reviewer: Spooner - UK
Date: 1st May 2009

Personally I feel the Samsung Tocco is amazing recently having the LG Viewty so my expectations were high. My mate having the iPhone 3G was full of it thinking he had the best phone. He saw this & his face dropped. The phone looks great & is slim comparing to my last phone I hardly notice it when it's in my pocket. I have fallen in love with this phone.

The phone is very simple to use with every feature including the camera & texting. Every feature on this phone is to a very high standard. This is a mobile phone for everyone & everyone should have it. Comparing to the Tocco & my mates iPhone 3G, it is the best.

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Reviewer: Roger - Thorne, UK
Date: 22nd Apr 2009

I have had my Tocco for about 3 weeks now & am very pleased with it. Having had Nokia's for a while now it is somewhat of a culture shock to use something different, but it is amazing how quickly you get used to it & now when I pick up my wife's Nokia I want to touch the screen to go through the menus. I agree with other users on the rather annoying text glitch where you can't go back, but other than that I can't think of anything else. Could anyone help with speed dials as I have had no luck in setting this up. I tried to set this up but with no luck & the manual was as clear as mud!

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Reviewer: Ai - London, UK
Date: 22nd Apr 2009

I had this phone for about 10 days before sending it back. My last phone was a Samsung G600 so it could be partly down to not being used to a touch screen but the main reasons I sent it back are.

- Battery life was awful. I am used to my last phone lasting for around 3 to 4 days with moderate usage of texts & calls but the Tocco Ultra didn't last much more than 1 day.

- Texting is frustrating. I've tried with both the onscreen keypad & the physical keypad but they were both very difficult to use. As with some other comments the main problem was when you wanted to go back to a part of your text to edit, it's extremely difficult to pinpoint.

- Touch screen is hard to navigate. This could be partly down to getting used to it, but it's hard to sometimes press the right button with the thickness of your finger. So this can get frustrating & is not good for people who want things done quickly. I found that you have to take your time to use it & most things cannot be done quickly.

- Camera is quite slow working. The pictures that it takes a great but I found that I had to press down on the button for a while before the phone took a photo, so it wouldn't be suitable for catching a moment.

The good points however & the main reason I bought this phone is that it's very stylish looking & the screen colour is very good. So it might be suitable for people with a lot of patience to navigate using the touch screen & not often in a rush to text.

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Reviewer: Joseph O'brien - Birmingham, UK
Date: 21st Apr 2009

Haven't actually got the phone yet! It is arriving by post tomorrow from O2. I am really looking forward to having a play with it. I had a choice between the Samsung Tocco, Pixon, Soul, Nokia 5800, LG Viewty & Renoir. I stumped for the Tocco ultra as I wanted the touch screen features but still wanted the slidey phone bit. I also wanted a good camera with flash, sturdy design, an accelerometer for rotating images & 3G for Google maps. I've read some of the reviews below & on other sites & a lot of the negative comments about this phone & all Samsung's seem to stem from the Samsung user interface which is pretty common (I have a D900i). Anyone moving from Sony or Nokia to a Samsung will immediately disapprove of the unnecessary steps required when texting. I am afraid it takes some getting used to. But given that my trusty D900i is still going after 3 years even after being dropped on concrete a dozen times, & slobbered on by my 1 year old, I had to go for Samsung again. Can I say that once it arrives, the first thing I will do is READ the MANUAL! There are so many hidden features & tips in Samsung's, it pays to read the manual. One chap who reviewed his Samsung was having a go at the inability for it to text brackets character such as brackets etc. These are obtained after holding down star for 1 second. Joe.

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Reviewer: Karen - UK
Date: 20th Apr 2009

Got this phone as an upgrade & thought it looked stunning, clear colours & very stylish BUT the touch screen is a nightmare for texting, forbid if you make a mistake! & if you want to take pictures outside in the sunlight you can't even see what you're taking a picture of! , the screen becomes invisible. Samsung haven't quite got it right with this phone, I've had mine for three weeks to give it a proper go but I think eBay is the best place for it.

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Reviewer: Richard - Heswall, UK
Date: 19th Apr 2009

- Looks fantastic.
- Camera good.
- MP3 player good.

Internet browsing, rubbish. You will be throwing your phone at the nearest hard surface in frustration after 10 minutes.

Texting, no back button very frustrating.

Touch screen simply to unresponsive. When you have spent 10 minutes typing in a URL (& it will take this long trust me) finding the screen will not accept your push of the search button will drive you nuts.

Never had a touch screen phone before & don't ever want one again.

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Reviewer: Mark Stronge - UK
Date: 19th Apr 2009

I've had this phone for a week now & have been addicted to it. First, I upgraded from a Nokia brick so having the Samsung slender phone in my pocket I hardly knew it was there.

The lack of a back button for texting was a bit weird at first but using the touch screen or the delete key on the touch screen it's very easy to edit any mistakes in texts. Texting with T9 is great & adding words is so easy. I am tending to text with the touch screen as opposed to the keypad but both work well for me.

First up is the display. Very clear, vibrant colours & the new OLED tech. Means it detects heat from fingers as opposed to touch only, as far as I know, so it can make the responsiveness slightly fiddly as fingernails don't work or styluses.

When you get used to the touch screen, the little vibration from the phone on successful touching of menu options becomes 2nd nature & now I fine the touch screen very easy to use & intuitive with the haptic feedback (I think that's what it's called).

The main display has a left hand sidebar called a widget bar & this can be customised &, like the windows sidebar, the widgets can be dragged into the main screen out of the sidebar so that you can e.g. Constantly display the weather or have quick access to Google search etc.

The menu screen is split into 12 options with sub menus for the applications & settings which makes finding things quick & easy. The scrolling of menus can be dragged or flicked with the touch or using the rocker switch on the left side of the phone.

The file browser is very easy to use & is great for viewing photos with photos rotating depending on what way the phone is orientated. The touch screen is used well here with flicking though photos or tilting the photo to slide through your photo albums.

The camera is excellent & the panorama option which I used once worked great & gave me a very good 5 part panorama with the phone splicing each photo together to make an ultra wide image. Low light photos are great too with the ultra bright LEDs illuminating the scene very well. There are also options for face detection, backlight compensation, forced flash, auto & flash off.

The camera is quite responsive to the button on the side of the phone. To tack an image, open the slide, hold down the camera key for a second, then the camera is ready, press the key again to take a photo. Zoom comes in the form of steps 1x 1.5x 2x etc.

The video recording is excellent quality & the best I've seen with good colour & 30fps with the option of 120fps for slow motion recording. You can edit the video in the phoone as well with the files saved as mp4 files. Video can be saved to the memory card & the phone supports up to 16Gb MicroSD cards.

Video playback is really where this phone excels. Standard Definition content can be downloaded from the web & played back with no conversion required so this really takes the hassle out of preparing videos for viewing. Xvid & divx & h264 content plays back great with a fantastic picture & fluid motion.

The music player supports album covers in mp3s & albums can be listed & sorted into artist, albums etc. You can select the album cover & scroll through you MP3 collection with the touch interface & play back albums in their correct order or just play back music by artist, it all works very smoothly & with a 16Gb card (now available for £35) this is a great alternative to having a phone & a MP3 player.

You can use your own headphones thanks to the supplied lead & 3.5mm socket though the sound quality from the supplied headphones is excellent with excellent bass reproduction & no EQ required.

GPS support is built in & the Google Maps displays your location while downloading maps in realtime. Scrolling & zooming is via the touch screen which works very well.

One thing that is lacking presently is the widget support. There are only 3 widgets available to add on but hopefully we will see an Apps store appearing for the Tocco Ultra as it has the same capabilities as the main rival for innovative apps.

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Reviewer: Tony - Manchester, UK
Date: 19th Apr 2009

I agree with Andrew from Teeside, come on guys give the phone a chance & review it after a week or so not after just a day. If I'd written my review after a day it wouldn't have been so good but now I am used to the handset I think it's brilliant. I've had the phone for 2 weeks now & the touch screen does takes some getting used to but once you have its a breeze - I've read it works on heat sensitivity rather than pressure so experiment with different parts of your thumb/finger. I thought I would have ended up being conventional & using the buttons but I am using the touch screen more often than not. Yes when texting the backspace & position edit buttons are on the screen rather than the keypad but to be honest I am completely used to this now & it's not a problem. The screen is fantastic, very bright & colourful & watching movies on it is first class. Internet browsing is very fast, I've downloaded opera mini which I think is faster than the standard browser. Sound quality is spot on & the camera is great & has lots of neat features like the multi stitching panorama views & the mosaic feature. My battery lasts between 2 to 4 days depending on use & I completely ran down the battery after first charge, as I've heard a few people suggest, so I think this helps. It's a high application phone so anyone expecting more than this out of the battery is of their rocker. I haven't had any problems using any of the features as some have, if it's not in the manual then experiment as you would with any phone. The only negative point I have is that I don't really understand the point in the widgets feature unless they're going to release stuff in the future like the apple apps, if you're buying the phone on the strength of the widgets then test this out first. & a normal headphone socket would have been better than the adapter supplied but not a major problem.

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Reviewer: Kev - London, UK
Date: 15th Apr 2009

I personally like the phone. I think it's well built, taking pictures seem fine. I like the fact you can customise ringtones & text tones. The couple things I DO find on the negative side is one regarding texting via the keypad. If you type a word & make a mistake, there's no button to go back a few character spaces to retype a letter, you either have to delete & retype the whole word or refer the touch screen & TRY to pinpoint touch the place where you made the mistake. If you're used to texting fast on a keypad. Then have to all of a sudden stop & mess around trying to touch exactly where you made the mistake, it can become annoying.

Apart from that & possibly battery life not being as long as I thought. I think it's a fairly decent phone. I am happy enough.

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Reviewer: Amy Mclaughlin - UK
Date: 14th Apr 2009

Before you read on please note my previous phone was a Samsung D900i, this was a significant upgrade for me on a phone I knew how to navigate very well. I can only review what I use on the handset & this isn't comprehensive!

I've had the Tocco Ultra for a week & so far I am really pleased. The camera was the main reason I went for this phone as 8MP in conjunction with a slender build & the optional keypad appealed without scaring me off with techno overload. I've found navigation very easy & haven't really had problems finding out how to use applications. If you're a seasoned Samsung user you shouldn't have difficulty.

Text, will take your time to get used to. The lack of a back arrow is so far the most disappointing aspect as trying to use the touch screen to get to a precise spot in text is difficult & you need patience. But it's a change to adjust to. Admittedly texts aren't as fast as they used to be but I am getting there.

Camera, fabulous, great pictures so far & the screen is excellent for viewing them on. By far the best photographs I've printed out from any camera phone.

Battery, I have been charging it every night.

Screen Rotate, seems to work sometimes & not others I.e. Turning the phone on its side sometimes flips the view but other times it doesn't. I haven't found out why yet.

Ring tones & message tones, I've been able to add what I want & use what I want for both which is great. The D900i only let you use inbuilt tones. I added a 8GB memory card & have been happily stuffing the phone with tunes & videos.

I gave 80% for features because of the ones I've used, understandably this may change if I have a stab at the GPS, radio etc. I am enjoying this handset so far, happy snapping!

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Reviewer: Chris - West Midlands, UK
Date: 13th Apr 2009

Had this phone for five days now, an upgrade from my Samsung G600 on T mobile. Spent a lot of time reviewing handsets before I chose this one. At first I thought the battery life was going to be an issue! Going flat after 12 hours or so but now its holding its own, It needs to be fully discharged then recharged fully several times for it to hold a proper charge. I like the old fashioned 4x3 keypad for texting but love the touch screen technology & all the capabilities it has, takes a while to get used to everything but all in all I think its a brilliant handset! My last three phones have been Samsungs & I suppose that helps, if this is your first Samsung it could prove to be a little frustrating at first but stick with it you will get used to it, I don't see too many handsets out there that can compete at the moment!

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Reviewer: Louise - UK
Date: 13th Apr 2009

I hate this phone it's awful! A really smart looking thing but it's so user unfriendly. Texting is a nightmare on this, I knew it would take a while to get used to a touch screen but you can't even go back through the words to change them without having to attempt to pinpoint the exact spot with your finger. Texting takes forever & that is what I use my phone for the most.

Picture quality is good but you end up pressing the button for ages to get it to take the picture. Pants

I am sending this back, really disappointed with it.

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Reviewer: Ratty - UK
Date: 12th Apr 2009

I can't wait to write this. I love this phone! The camera is awesome, menus are good, keypad is good. It does take some work to get used to but the people who are moaning, like about changing dates & message tones, just can't be bothered to work it out properly. Of course it's easy to change your date & message tones to ones you like.

The touch screen & scrolling takes some getting used to, but only goes to fast if you press it too fast! It is well worth learning it properly before you make snap decisions that it is unresponsive or fast.

The customisation is really good, you can almost design your own widget menus, Internet is very fast, not tried the nav as I have my own. Phonebook access is real easy & with four ways to find your contact one is sure to suit!

Texting is quick, easy, & accurate on T9. Video is crystal clear & camera menus are easy to navigate & customise.

Far better than my Viewty!

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Reviewer: Andrew - Teesside, UK
Date: 11th Apr 2009

Most of you that have written bad points regarding this phone have had it for just one day! Why can you not leave it a few days & give yourselves time to get used to the phone. I have had this phone for just over a week & it's the best phone I've ever had. I find it really easy to use. As for the guy how said he couldn't find out how to change the time, piece of cake. Don't know what all the fuss is about. As for scrolling through contacts, just flip out the keypad & touch the letter of the person you want, not hard! I've found GPS fine, I work for the Ambulance Service, & the Ultra's SatNav kept up with the Ambulance Sat Nav!

Highly recommended handset. I know everyone's opinions are different but if you get used the features of the phone you will find it easy to use.

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Reviewer: Declan Doherty - UK
Date: 10th Apr 2009

This was my first touch screen phone but I am sending it back for the simple reason that the battery won't even last 1 day if you actually want to use it small online browse some calls & texts & its dead. I love the keypad it was the main reason I chose it but it's still not great for texting you still need to touch screen to edit & it's hard to select between words to delete. Camera was pretty good but don't take many photos with phone. The screen seemed to be what all the hype was about & it is great any photos I put on looked great, it's a shame about the battery because I did get the hang of this & really liked it.

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Reviewer: Charlie - UK
Date: 10th Apr 2009

John, If you scroll down the page it is right there to change the date.

This phone is fabulous, texting is a bliss, the quality of the screen is brilliant & the camera is of excellent quality, which is great if you take lots of pictures =).

I find it really easy to use, combined with the great design it is much better than other phones around at the moment. HIGHLY recommended!

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Reviewer: Craig - Edinburgh, UK
Date: 7th Apr 2009

I've had this phone for almost a week now & I love it. I had to wait for a couple of weeks to get it but it was definitely worth the wait.

Firstly, it looks fantastic! The main reason for me getting this was because a lot of my friends have iPhones & I've never been a massive fan of touch screens so the traditional 3 x 4 keypad is ideal. The camera is great as well so I should be able to take some decent photos when I am not carrying my camera.

Personally I haven't experienced any of the problems other users have listed so from reading their reviews it would seem that the problem lies with the people operating the phone rather than the phone itself.

I was able to work out how to change the time & date (including putting it into 24hr format) within 5 minutes of switching it on. If you want to go back through a message all you have to do is scroll up & down. Also, touch the screen at the point you want & the cursor will jump there. As for pressing the camera button several times. This is a normal function on many cameras, you hold gently to autofocus & press firmly (once) to take a photo. Whoever has ordered these phones I have to say I am amazed they worked out how to take it out the box let alone turn it on.

For those of you who are willing to put up with this for more than one day it's worth waiting to get used to the touch screen. As I said I've only been using it for a few days really but I am already starting to get used to it & it's turning out to be great.

My one & only concern is that the battery indicator seems to go down a bit quickly for my liking. I charge my phone every night though so I haven't really had a chance to find out how long it lasts.

Hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as me!

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Reviewer: John - UK
Date: 5th Apr 2009

Had phone 1 day & I can't even find out how to alter the time & date, looked at instructions & on web & no joy.

Go into time & date under settings on the menu & doesn't give option of changing either just 12 or 24hr & date format.

Seems very complicated phone, maybe I should keep my N95 8GB which seems much easier to use!

I have sent email to Samsung re date etc, but no reply yet so it's back in box.

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Reviewer: Gemma - Belper, UK
Date: 4th Apr 2009

This is the worst phone I have ever owned & I have owned a fair few. It looks good but that is where it ends.

Texting is a nightmare, & you cannot go back through the message to reread it if you try & go back it deletes what you have written & you have to start again.

The camera is not brilliant & takes several pushes on the button to work at all.

The touch screen works when it feels like it & scrolls through contacts at the speed of light so you miss the one you are trying to find.

Mine is going back on Monday, Good Riddance!

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Reviewer: A Keedwell - Bristol, UK
Date: 4th Apr 2009

Had my new Samsung for one day from new & already had problems with the phone freezing. Touch screen is very sticky & does not perform well. Scrolling on this phone is sometimes difficult & tends to overshoot when you don't need it too. Feel of the phone is quite solid & looks very nice. Tried the GPS navigation but that was very slow to work & also got stuck at several times.

Overall the phone looks & feels very solid but potential buyers should be aware of the hidden problems with the phone.

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Reviewer: Lynz - UK
Date: 2nd Apr 2009

I have had this phone for just under a week & it's the best phone I've ever had! I love the camera, the pictures are perfect. The phone is pretty easy to use & I like the slide up function as I prefer to text this way. The only thing I can say that I don't like about the phone, is that the battery doesn't last as well as I am used to. With little use, I get 2 days out of it.

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Reviewer: Gemma - UK
Date: 2nd Apr 2009

I have always had Samsung phones & using this phone is really difficult the touch screen is not as responsive as I think it should be & I don't like how the screen saver changes & you can't stop that & I haven't been able to use the GPRS as it never seems to work also I don't like the keypad as its hard to press the buttons there are far more negatives than positives! I am disappointed.

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Reviewer: Andrea - Co Durham, UK
Date: 31st Mar 2009

I have just got this phone & it is pretty nice, a bit disappointing that it doesn't come with a leather flip case like the original Tocco does as this would have been very useful. Also it's not so great with T9 text if you use it a lot because the 1 button doesn't put it in for you & you can't add it as a word either. Also if you need to block numbers from texting you this is NOT the phone for you there is no way of doing this! I only found this out after having received it & Vodafone no longer have the 14 day cooling off period so am stuck with it & my nuisance texts unless I choose to change my number!

All that in mind the phone is still pretty good as a general phone. It has simplified the general functions that people use but if you want it for the Internet then it's great.

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Reviewer: Jenni - Derby, UK
Date: 31st Mar 2009

I have had my Samsung Tocco Ultra for 3 days now & it looks absolutely stunning, the screen is fantastic but the touch screen is a bit of a nightmare. When scrolling up & down it sometimes just goes so fast you miss what you were trying to access & then sometimes you have to press something two or three times before it works.

The jury is out on this phone at the moment. Texting is really difficult because the phone is just so complicated maybe I just need longer to practice using it.

Reception is clear but ringtones are naff & have not yet discovered if I can add my own message tone.

Very interested to hear what others think of theirs.

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Reviewer: Damo - Portsmouth, UK
Date: 21st Mar 2009

Dear jack it's not hard to slide a phone open & it's great to have both as I had Tocco & Omnia & touch is awful for text just like LG cookie a keypad is far better for texting shame camera is ported from Pixon as I had one of those got C905 now which is good when it works (been sent away 3 times so far in 4 months) the camera will be OK but the screen on S8300 looks fantastic super colours which not even a LG cookie can be compared against only the iPhone & a few others & one last thing this phone has no Wi-Fi which I don't mind as it is pointless on a phone I have a computer for the net.

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Reviewer: Jack - UK
Date: 8th Mar 2009

Looks okay, but I HATE having to slide open the phone to take a picture.

Shame it only has half the features of my LG Renoir. & it doesn't have Wi-Fi.

LG Renoir would be a better choice if you are looking for an 8MP camera phone with a touch screen.

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Reviewer: Graci - Malta
Date: 22nd Feb 2009

Well I never! 8mpx camera! It's amazing. I love it. But you know it's not cheap. No not at all.

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Reviewer: Jimmy - London, UK
Date: 22nd Feb 2009

This phone looks unbelievable! Got a new phone a while ago on contract though! Going to get this phone when it comes out though! It looks like the best phone ever! When someone gets it, write in & tell me what it's like please!

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Reviewer: Adele - UK
Date: 20th Feb 2009

This Phone Looks Amazing. Not Only Is It Touch Screen It Also Has A Keypad & An 8 Megapixel Camera! This Is the Phone I Have Been Looking For. Everything You Need In One Little Neat Package. Well Done Samsung. Lets Hope Its doesn't Have Any System Or Software Problems.



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