The Samsung Champ (C3303) is a fun, affordable touchscreen phone. I don’t know why Samsung named it Champ since it doesn’t really do any one thing that good aside from being cheap for a touchscreen phone.
If you’re interested with the Samsung Champ, you might want to read what we think about this little phone that could.
Design
First thing you would notice with the Champ is that it looks like a toy phone. It’s a bit smaller than the Corby and is made of plastic. It’s a phone that you would expect a keypad to slide out from underneath. It has rounded corners and a curved backside.
The 2.4″ resistive touchscreen with a 240×320 QVGA resolution occupies the front along with three physical buttons for Call, Back and Cancel/Power On/Off. What’s interesting here is that there are two speakers, one above and another below the screen.
On the top side is your standard audio jack and microUSB port for charging or connecting to your PC. On the right is the Sleep/Wake/Unlock button typically found in Samsung phones. On the left is the volume control.
At the back of the Champ is your 1.3 megapixel fixed-focus camera. There’s also a stylus compartment beside it that you probably would forget about.
It only weighs 80g which you can easily forget that you’re carrying it. I did.
Display
The 320×240 QVGA display is typical of your cheap colored phones these days. It has a resistive touchscreen which doesn’t feel quite right for those who are used to capacitive screens (like that of the iPhone).
The 2.4″ screen is very limiting especially when browsing through your list of contacts. I find it frustrating scrolling through my contacts and accidentally hitting a different tab so I had to scroll down again.
Homescreen Panels
What’s nice about this basic touchscreen phone are the panels on the home screen. You can use up to 7 panels which is adequate for the different type of widgets/shortcuts you want to put. Buddy list, Shortcuts and Clock are the most useful widgets for me.
Text Messaging
Composing messages may pose a challenge to those who are new to touchscreen phones and Samsung’s keypad. The “œSpace” button is located on the right side underneath the “œDelete”. People who are new to resistive touch screens may find it a bit unresponsive at first but here’s a tip, use your fingernails.
You can also view messages in threaded format which they call Conversations. It’s a bit of a surprise coming from a basic phone.
What I don’t like here is that there’s no smart search for Contacts. You have to key in the first letters of a name but I’m used to typing a fragment of a name and the phone will search for it.
FM Radio
I want to highlight the FM Radio capability of the Champ. Unlike other phones with FM Radio, the Champ doesn’t require you to plug in a headset just to use it. You can place it on the table while the radio is blaring from its two speakers. Kinda nice for radio lovers. Oh, you can also set a sleep timer on the radio so you can also use it to fall asleep.
Conclusion
Now I kind of understood why it’s called the Champ. It has a lot of features that you probably won’t find on a cheap, touch screen phone which I didn’t highlight anymore.
It can take shots with it’s 1.3 camera, it has some sort of social networking integration which you can access via EDGE. It can also act as a mini MP3 player that you can easily stash in your pocket. Oh yeah, the battery lasts a very long time. Mine lasted almost a week with your average texting and a few calls.
It’s truly a “œChamp” among small, affordable touchscreen phones.
Samsung Champ C3303 Specs:
- Network: GSM, EDGE (850/900/1800/1900)
- Display: 2.4″ 262K TFT LCD (240×320)
- Camera: 1.3 Megapixel
- Video: H.263+AMR, MPEG4 + AMR
- Audio: MP3 Player, Wireless FM Radio
- Value-added Features: TouchWiz Lite, Embedded Stylus Pen, SNS Link, Image Editor, Fake Call, SOS Message
- Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.1, USB v2.0
- Memory: Internal memory: 25MB / External memory: MicroSD (up to 8GB)
- Size: 96.3 x 53.8 x 12.97mm, 80g
- Battery: 1000 mah, Talk time: up to 3 Hours, Standby time: up to 250 Hours
- Colors: deep black, espresso brown, sweet pink and chic white
- Price: Php 4,980