Samsung Intensity II Review
By Ruben Corbo on October 31st, 2011
With its curved corners and slide-out QWERTY appearance, the phone has a compact and sleek looking design. The model also comes in three different colors for the side and back of the phone, all of which contrast nicely to the striking black finish of the front. The phone measures 4.29 inches in height, 2.09 inches in width and is 0.61 inch thick. It weighs a total of 4.1 ounces which is a slightly higher than average weight for a phone of this size, though the difference certainly won’t mean the phone drags you down.
Housed on the front of the phone is a QVGA 2.2 inch screen, supporting 262k colors and a resolution of 240x320. The resolution is high enough to make images seem colorful and texts appear sharp. However, it does suffer under direct sunlight. The screen’s brightness level can be easily adjusted and the menu display can be changed between a traditional layout and Samsung’s custom menu which is purposefully geared towards the phone’s younger audience.
Below the screen is the phone’s four-direction navigational pad. Whilst on the start screen each direction acts a shortcut to an application of your choosing. At the side of the navigation pad are the usual keys for calling and speakerphone. The keypad has a finely textured finish with keys that are easy to press.
The slide-out QWERTY keyboard presents a similar experience. It is easy to use and nicely laid out, though lacks the spacious quality that other slide-out keyboards possess. Whilst this is unfortunate for the Intensity II, it certainly isn’t that noticeable when using the keyboard. The keyboard also contains several shortcuts for the phone’s main functions.
In terms of features the Intensity II offers all those that are usually found on feature phones, plus a few extras. The phonebook has an entry capacity of 1,000, all of which can have multiple contacts programmed into them. It also features the ability to form caller groups, Picture ID and Ring ID. Lastly, there is space within the phonebook for three in-case-of-emergency (ICE) numbers.
Being a phone targeted for younger audiences with a physical keyboard, it is unsurprising that the phone comes with social networking capability. The Social Beat app can be used to stream information from your Twitter, Facebook and Myspace accounts. It can also display information from Gmail and Google Talk IM.
The phone also features a 1.3-megapixel camera which delivers pictures of an average quality.
