Samsung i550 Review

Reviews and tests / Samsung i550 Review
SMAPE Reviews and tests Samsung Samsung i550 Review

Samsung i550

The development and production of S60-based smartphones by the Samsung company has a long and rich history, the precursor of the now abundant S60 family being Samsung D700, a folder with rotating screen - ironically, it didn’t make it to the market due to a number of reasons and its commercial production was cancelled yet it remained a key product that served as a base for a few other smartphones like D720 and D730 which managed to enter the market, though too late to win good sales - so they were soon phased out. On the day of release the two devices’ specifications look rather appealing, but the delay in development completely negated their strong points in the competition with the rival products, so when the two entered the market they looked no more than just a couple of wallflowers posing little interest to the potential buyer. It’s not solely the prolonged development time that contributed to the low popularity of those, but the lack of reputation with the Samsung company as a smartphone manufacturer - in fact, there was little reputation at all since they were largely unknown in that sense. The tried and true Nokia smartphones were still largely preferred as a better choice since that company had been long known for their variety of highly functional smart solutions. Any comparisons between those and the ones offered by Samsung weren’t to Samsung’s advantage, and the current state of things isn’t much different.

Samsung’s positions on the front of WM-based PDA phones look more challenging, however a number of persistent flaws among these products is to stay as ell. The solutions issued by the company in this market sector look quite competitive and balanced, comfortable and technologically advanced as well; The i600 and i710 models can be good samples of this, appearing rather successful phones yet sporting little demand on the actual market. This can be explained by the powerful PR influence of the RIM (Research in Motion) and HTC (HighTech Computers) companies a strong market presence of which can be felt respectively in USA and Europe. Samsung are trying to change the situation since the portfolio expansion is on the company’s priority task list and is vital to their corporate welfare. Even given the small demand on a limited number of markets, Samsung are trying to supply this demand with an adequate range of products. It was largely due to the wide product range that let Samsung occupy the second line in the world’s top phone manufacturers chart once again, and the Samsung guys don’t look like they are planning to lose the position in the predictable future. For instance, the new i780 has been recently announced, being the world’s first WM smartphone sporting a 320x320 display, let alone the high overall functionality.

Samsung i550 screenshots

But let’s get back to the Symbian and S60 platforms. The Samsung possesses a license entitling the use of the S60 hardware platform in their mobile products, though on the other hands the release dates of the respective devices are bound to the release dates of Nokia products sporting the OS version. Every sold Samsung smartphone counts to the financial benefit of Nokia as well, since Samsung are paying them royalties for the use of their platform. The third and the most grave factor is that Samsung are likely to appear promoting not their own solutions but rather increasing the ranks of customers loyal to that very specific platform, thus catering to Nokia’s interests in a big way as well.