In short, this phone is frustrating—at least to me.

Really Annoying

  • Buggy default firmware: The stock web browser crashes whenever you hit “Stop.”
  • Wi-Fi limitations: WPA Enterprise Wi-Fi connection is poorly supported.
  • VPN: Setting up a VPN is a major pain.
  • Bluetooth transfers: Any files or data received via Bluetooth are dumped directly into the SMS inbox and cannot be saved straight to a folder without a third-party file manager.
  • Calendar widgets: Birthdays and appointments aren’t displayed on the home screen at least 24 hours in advance.
  • Locked down: The platform is not developer- or hack-friendly.
  • Customer support: Samsung’s sales and support teams are unhelpful.
  • Windows-only SDK: Developing on Linux is a major hassle compared to Android.
  • Accessories: Phone cases and screen protectors are nearly impossible to find.
  • Contacts UI: Photo contacts are displayed as hover icons rather than clean thumbnails.
  • Home screen: The 3D home screen navigation isn’t configurable.
  • Audio formats: No Ogg Vorbis or FLAC support out of the box.
  • Adobe PDF viewer: Terrible user interface lacking fullscreen support (Picsel Viewer is much better).
  • Keyboard layout: On the alphanumeric keyboard, the “OK” button sits in the top-left corner, requiring an awkward reach.

Mildly Annoying

  • Opera has not yet been released for S60v5.
  • The phone needs to be hacked (via HelloOX2) to install unsigned applications.
  • No centralized app store, apart from Nokia’s Ovi Store and the Samsung App store (which lacks S60 apps).
  • Lacks smooth kinetic scrolling across many list views.

The Pros

  • Built-in GPS and A-GPS.
  • Gorgeous, large AMOLED screen with auto-brightness, easily readable in broad daylight.
  • Responsive accelerometer with auto-orientation.
  • Proximity sensor automatically turns off and locks the screen during calls.
  • Intuitive and natural-feeling scrollbar.
  • Great HD games available from Gameloft.
  • Sports Tracker (from Nokia) is a fantastic fitness utility.
  • Built-in podcast support.
  • RoadSync support for connecting to corporate Microsoft Exchange email.
  • Route 66 navigation works well and outperforms Google Maps offline.
  • Support for P.I.P.S. and the Qt runtime.
  • Native hardware support for high-quality DivX and FLV video playback.
  • Quickoffice and Office Reader allow viewing MS Office and OpenDocument files.
  • Support for multiple custom alarms and multiple timezone clocks.
  • Native ZIP file extraction out of the box.
  • MTP support.
  • Excellent built-in dictionary and business card scanner.