Sometimes less doesn't mean worse. Samsung C3300K Champ allows you to start small, hoping that sooner or later you will want more. The phone has stereo speakers, FM radio, memory card slot and social media support. Of course, many may not like the 1.3MP camera and the lack of 3G. But you won't have to overpay for unnecessary functions.
Main characteristics
* GSM / EDGE band
* 2.4 "TFT touchscreen resistive display with QVGA resolution.
* TouchWiz Lite user interface with widgets
* 50 MB internal memory, microSD card slot (up to 8GB)
* 1.3 megapixel fixed focus with smile detection, QCIF @ 15fps video
* FM receiver without RDS, can work without headset
* Stereo speakers
* Social networks
* Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB v.2.0
* Quite low phone price
* Stylus included
Main disadvantages
* Small screen
* No 3G
* Low resolution camera
* No QWERTY keyboard on screen
* No smart dialing function
* MicroSD slot under the battery cover
* No accelerometer to automatically rotate the screen
It is clear that Samsung C3300K Champ not a Galaxy S and will tire it out for most of its characteristics. But considering the price, the user will not be so upset if he loses the device or the phone breaks. It is perfect for a child or teenager.
Equipment
The phone comes in a small box, which also contains:
* Compact charger
* Stereo headset
*User's manual
There is no data cable in the kit, probably the manufacturer thus decided to reduce the price of the phone to the maximum. For data transfer, the user can either purchase a cable or a card reader.
Design, dimensions
The device is rather small, its size is 96.3 x 56.8 x 13 mm, and the small weight adds compactness - 80 g. The body is made of plastic, but it is quite sturdy. All corners of the phone are rounded, which adds to the convenience of use.
Given the size, it will be convenient for children to use the device, and not by the hands of adults. Otherwise, you may experience inconvenience when pressing keys and other controls.
The assembly of the phone is not bad, it will not fall apart from the first blow. The back cover does not play, but it is not known how long it will last if you open and close it frequently. The body of the device is glossy and therefore fingerprints will remain on it regularly.
Display
Samsung C3300K Champ has a 2.4-inch touchscreen display with QVGA resolution. Image quality is average, viewing is limited to small viewing angles. It will be inconvenient to read or watch images in the sun, you will have to look for a shade.
The resistive layer is at a fairly good level. Let it be inferior in sensitivity to capacitive displays, but it reacts to pressing quickly and accurately.
Functional elements
Above the display, there is only a speaker. The second is at the bottom, under the display. If you hold the phone horizontally, the stereo effect will be slightly audible.
In addition, under the display there are three hardware keys - call, reset and a return button between them.
There is a lock button on the right side and a volume rocker on the left. These are all the controls that Samsung C3300K Champ and they are all easy to use.
At the top are a 3.5mm headphone jack and a MicroUSB port, which is protected by a plastic cap and a stylus hole. There is nothing on the bottom. The microphone hole is under the display, next to the speaker.
The rear glossy surface houses only a 1.3MP camera, no flash is provided for it. So only the screen can be used as a flashlight.
Battery, MicroSD
Removing the back cover we see a 1000 mAh Li-Ion battery and a SIM card slot underneath. The microSD slot is on the side, but you also have to remove the cover to replace it.
The battery life on a single battery charge is impressive - 28 days in standby mode and 12 hours of talk time.
User interface
The TouchWiz interface is used on Samsung touchscreen phones. However, in Samsung C3300K Champ is too small for normal display of widgets, so it uses a simplified version, the TouchWiz Lite interface.
Outwardly, it looks solid, the image is bright and lively with labels and widgets. You can switch to another theme - Choco Cookie - which creates a cartoonish menu look.
Widgets are a key factor in the interface. There is only one widget on the TouchWiz Lite desktop, but you can use 7 desktops. On the first desktop there is only an analog or digital clock, while the rest are more varied. They contain widgets for calendar, contact photo, profile and memo. They also have a clock and the ability to choose a wallpaper.
Each widget can only be used once. Each widget contains up to four keys - they give instant access to various functions, such as Internet access for FM radio. If you have new events, such as missed calls, new e-mails, then they are displayed on the home screen together in a widget. The Music widget also shows when the music player is active - it replaces the clock on the first home screen.
At the bottom of the desktop, there are three touch keys - dialing, contacts and menu. The menus are displayed by a 3 x 3 matrix of icons and are arranged on three pages that can be flipped. The icons are used the same as on Bada OS and TouchWiz for Android. The Cartoon theme changes the icons and font, but leaves the home screen the same.
Samsung C3300K Champ supports Java applications, so you can add games and small applications (including Opera Mini). The phone lacks multitasking, so you can't open multiple open apps at the same time and switch between them.
TouchWiz Lite controls are similar to the S60. For example, in the same contacts, to select, you need to press once, and to activate the second. However, the Messages app is activated with a single tap. At first, you can get confused. The situation with tactile feedback is also ambiguous. In some cases it works, and in some there is no reaction to pressing.
Phone book
Samsung C3300K Champ has a pretty good phone book. It can store up to 1000 contacts with different filled fields - this is more than enough for small users. The phone can display contacts from the SIM card or from the internal memory, change the order, etc.
You can assign photos to contacts, including preset cartoon pictures. Search is also possible - you need to press the Search key, enter a few letters (on the 12-key virtual keyboard) and press the Run button to get the search results. Of course, this is not comparable to the smart dialing function, but it is quite convenient.
You can add up to 20 contacts to groups or mark them as favorites. In addition, you can choose to display four contacts on the home screen (My friends widget).
Calls
The phone copes well with its main job - making calls. There are no problems with either the reception or the sound quality during a call. The only drawback is the sound is rather quiet, so it is best to avoid noisy places during a conversation.
With the dialing of the number, no questions arise, everything is intuitive. There is a virtual keyboard, buttons Contacts, Call log, Favorites, Messages, etc. As noted earlier, there is no smart dialing function, so you have to use the phonebook if you need to find a contact. The phone does not have a proximity sensor, but the screen is locked automatically for the duration of the call. At the same time, it can be unlocked if necessary with a button on the side of the device.
The My Friends widget lets you keep the four most important numbers on your desktop. I would like more, but this option seems to be quite good.
The speaker test showed good results:
Telephone | Voice transmission, dB | Music playback, dB | Phone call, dB | Overall score |
Nokia 5230 | 65,8 | 60,3 | 66,7 | Below the average |
Samsung C3300K Champ | 75,2 | 68,8 | 70,7 | Okay |
Samsung M5650 Lindy | 73,1 | 69,1 | 77,8 | Very good |
Samsung S3650 Corby | 75,7 | 72,0 | 77,1 | Very good |
Samsung S5230 Star | 82,7 | 76,0 | 80,2 | Excellent |
HTC Smart | 74,9 | 73,5 | 80,9 | Excellent |
Posts
Samsung C3300K Champ can handle all common message types. There is also a separate editor and mailbox for email. Typing is carried out using a virtual 12-key keyboard. There is no QWERTY keyboard, but there is a rich T9 dictionary for speed typing.
There is also a built-in email client. Setting up a mailbox located on the Gmail server is very convenient and simple - you need to enter your account information and the phone will access it in a matter of seconds. You can configure the machine to receive new messages automatically at a specified period and select whether to download all e-mail or only headers.
Social networks
Samsung C3300K Champ has a Communities app for social networking, but it's rather limited in functionality. The application allows you to upload files to the server (one by one or several), automatically reduce photos and work according to a given schedule. There are no SNS widgets for keeping in touch on Twitter. In this case, Samsung Corby provided more options. But this option will suit many users.
File manager
File manager Samsung C3300K Champ can display files and folders from the phone memory or from the memory card, or from both sources at the same time. There are folders for images, videos, etc., but you are free to create your own folders and use them instead of the installed ones. Searching for files on a MicroSD cat is fast enough, there is the ability to manage files - move, copy, delete. Moreover, you can manage any files, even those that are not supported by the phone.
The file manager has the ability to quickly send files via MMS, email or Bluetooth. In addition, it allows you to lock folders and files to prevent accidental deletion and supports sorting by name, type, time and size.
Gallery is an integral part of the file manager and is launched when you open a folder containing images. When viewing a picture, you can move your finger to open the next picture without having to go back to the picture list. Viewing the image is quite fast, especially when working with photos with a 1.3MP camera.
To enlarge the image, you will need to use the virtual keys or volume buttons. Zooming and panning is also fast, but still depends on the size of the photo you are viewing.
Music player
Music player Samsung C3300K Champ allows you to filter tracks by author, album and genre. You can automatically create playlists based on the most popular or recently played songs, etc. They can also be used for sorting. You can also manually create your own playlists. The music player can be minimized and will run in the background.
The player also has a dedicated home screen widget so you can start and stop tracks right from your desktop. You can use the timer to turn off the music player after a specified time.
Equalizer offers standard presets - pop, jazz, classical, etc. In addition, there are three additional options - stereo expansion, dynamic and surround effects.
The player is perfectly optimized for touch controls and has a pretty nice interface.
FM radio
Samsung C3300K Champ has a built-in FM receiver, which, thanks to a built-in antenna, can work without a headset. This is very convenient in some cases.
The radio does not have RDS or music recognition services, but many do not.But there is the ability to record radio programs - the fastest way to record a new song.
An interesting feature is the reminder program - you can set several reminders, each for a specific station, and set specific days of activation. At the right time, a reminder signal will sound and a button will appear to start the radio and tune to the desired frequency. This will be convenient for listening, and maybe recording important programs.
On the desktop, the radio widget works the same as for the music player. You can start / close the radio and select stations. The widget replaces the clock on the desktop.
Video playback
The video player has a simple interface and little functionality. It can play 3GP and MP4 files with QCIF resolution. Unfortunately, it does not support QVGA resolution.
A useful feature is the ability to resume playback from the last position. And the disadvantages include poor compatibility with many video formats.
Sound quality
The sound quality for music playback is average. The volume through the speakers is not bad, the stereo effect is felt. Unfortunately, when listening through headphones, for some reason, both channels are almost identical in sound, although nothing similar is observed when connecting external speakers.
Camera
Samsung C3300K Champ has a 1.3 megapixel fixed focus and a maximum image resolution of 1280 x 960 pixels. It does not have any specific functions, but it is well optimized and easy to use. It is possible to apply effects, transform pictures into mosaics and add frames to photos (in the form of Santa Claus, TV, etc.). These are more entertaining than useful features.
You can adjust brightness, white balance, metering, or turn on night mode, but in the end, auto is the most convenient. You can choose the principle of sorting pictures, as well as specify the storage location - phone memory or microSD.
Not much can be said about image quality. The resolution is not enough to display fine details, but the noise level is also quite low. The shots come out rather dim, but the shooting process is quite fast. In general, you shouldn't expect much more from a 1.3-megapixel camera.
Filming
The phone's video recording capabilities are rather weak - the maximum resolution is QCIF @ 15 frames / s. Clips are highly compressed and can only be useful for sending via MMS.
Data transfer
For communication in most countries of the world Samsung C3300K Champ can work in quad-band GSM, as well as GPRS / EDGE for data transmission. There is also Bluetooth 2.1 for file exchange between phones with A2DP support, so you can connect wireless stereo Bluetooth headphones.
The phone has a standard MicroUSB port. True, there is no cable for it in the kit, but it is quite easy to find it in stores. Memory cards can also be used for data transfer. If you nevertheless connect the phone to the computer using a cable, then you can use two modes - Kies or mass storage. In the second case, you cannot use any functions of the phone during the transfer, but the device can receive calls.
Browser
Samsung C3300K Champ equipped with NetFront 3.5 browser. It works well with sites adapted for mobile phones, but when displaying "heavy" pages, the device may give an error due to lack of memory.
Scrolling and panning is fairly accurate and fast, but not always smooth. Zooming is done by volume keys and is slow. The text is displayed correctly, again, mainly from sites adapted for mobile phones. Flash support is out of the question, and opening pages is quite slow.
It is possible to install Opera Mini, but a version up to 5.1 is desirable. In this case, no problems will arise. The keyboard may not work with newer versions. The app allows you to bookmark, save pages and compress pages to save traffic, which makes your pages load faster.Unfortunately, the phone's performance is low and therefore the scrolling in Opera Mini is slightly lower than in NetFront.
Organizer and Apps
The calendar offers three viewing options - by day, week and month. The week can start on Sunday or Monday. There are three types of events available in the calendar - reminder, anniversary, and general events. You can set the start date and time of the event and set the alarm as a reminder.
You can use 10 alarms, for each you can set the melody, volume, repeat on certain days and the name.
In addition, applications are installed - calculator, voice recorder, world clock, timer, stopwatch and envelopes of values. The voice recorder can record up to 60 minutes.
There are applications for creating short notes and tasks. You can also use a widget that will display memos on your desktop.
An image editor is also available. It's not Photoshop, of course, but it does allow you to resize, crop and rotate images, and apply effects. The application can be useful for sending pictures in MMS messages.
There is a Bluetooth Messenger application, it works at close range and allows you to create chats. At the same time, other phones must support VNT files, otherwise the messages will not be able to read.
Games
IN Samsung C3300K Champ games are installed only in demo versions, but their selection is quite large - Asphalt 4, DiamondTwister, Brain Challenge, Pyramid, Monopoly, Crazy Penguin and PyramidBloxx.
Conclusion
Samsung C3300K Champ targeted at young people. Of course, it has its drawbacks (for example, not the highest quality screen and an old Internet browser), but its price is appropriate.
Competitors include:
Samsung S3650 Corby which has a larger display, SNS support and a trendy design. Since it went on sale earlier, its price is still lower.
The LG KP500 Cookie has a 3 ”WQVGA display, 3MP camera and document viewer.
The Samsung S5230 Star offers a similar feature set as the previous model and has a fairly low price tag.
The Samsung 3510 Genoa, S3370 and LG Cookie T300 are also noteworthy. They are similar to Samsung C3300K Champ functionality, and the differences are mainly in design.
You can also pay attention to Nokia 5250. Although it is a smartphone, it belongs to the budget level and has a low price.
