Samsung S3650 Corby review: Hot, young and social

Gsmarena have posted a review of the Samsung S3650 Corby. Here are the phone's key features, main disadvantages and final impression.

Key features:
- Quad-band GSM/EDGE
- 2.8" capacitive TFT touchscreen of QVGA resolution
- 90 MB onboard storage, microSD card slot (up to 8GB)
- 2 megapixel fixed-focus camera with smile detection, QVGA@15fps video recording
- FM radio with RDS
- Find Music recognition service
- TouchWiz and Cartoon UI
- Social networking integration with direct file uploads
- Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB v.2.0
- Office document viewer
- Smart unlock
- Interchangeable rear covers (Fashion Jackets), ships with two extra panels
- Relatively low price for a full touch phone (around 150 euro)

Main disadvantages:
- No 3G
- The camera has no autofocus or flash
- No accelerometer for screen auto rotation
- No on-screen QWERTY keyboard
- Proprietary connectivity port
- No smart dialing
- microSD slot under the battery cover

There's nothing unique about the Samsung S3650 Corby but there's no way you can miss it. No, you won't be considering it, unless you're of a certain age, but you'll notice it and perhaps even appreciate it. Neatly repackaged to appeal to its intended audience, the S3650 Corby makes sense as an entry level offering. What's more - given its specific targeting - the phone seems capable of convincing those who'll be using it and those who'll be buying it.

The S3650 Corby is a simple, affordable and attractive touchscreen with modest but very focused feature set. It is designed to be small, to suit the social needs of youngsters and to be trendy. Its styling and Fashion Jackets are quite relevant too. Camera, MP3 player, capacitive touchscreen, neat user interface and distinct design are enough to seal the deal.

There's no shortage of basic touchscreens lately but the S3650 Corby's specific targeting makes it quite hard to pinpoint a direct competitor. An almost textbook example in this segment though is LG KP500 Cookie - pretty much the standard along with the Samsung Star for appeal, affordability, fun and ease of use. The Cookie has similar features and looks a bit more serious (as if teens and tweens care) and costs a bit less, now that it's been around for a while.

Looking into the Samsung back catalogue you get the S3650 Corby's most likely prototype - the S5230 Star. With almost the same specs and price, but with different - more mainstream - design, bigger (resistive) touchscreen and a 3 megapixel camera, the Star is selling like hotcakes. The new Star is also keen to play along, sporting Wi-Fi and a duly upgraded price tag.

Talking of competitors, let's not forget one of the latest mid-range XpressMusic devices - the Nokia 5530 XpressMusic. Its price tag is heftier (30 euro more) but the extra cash gets you Symbian OS, Wi-Fi support, a 3-megapixel autofocus shooter and solid music pedigree. And of course, if you prefer, you can surely get the Wi-Fi-less version that comes with GPS - the Nokia 5230.

Spending a week with the S3650 Corby we found ourselves liking it very much. It's pretty hard to imagine though it will ever outgrow its niche. A phone for tweens and teens, the S3650 Corby will hardly repeat the sales of the Star. But if it finds its intended audience it will probably do quite well for Samsung in the long run. Giving a tween a S3650 Corby may not make them a future geek. But a loyal user will suit Samsung just fine.