Samsung S7350 Ultra s preview: First look

Samsung S7350 Ultra s360-degree spin

Samsung S7350 Ultra s design and construction

The black frame around the display of Samsung S7350 Ultra s has a sort of brushed metallic finish, while everything else is made of matt plastic. The display is large and bright but its legibility suffers a bit in the bright sun.

The display of S7350: better in the dark

Over the display there is only the video-call camera and the loudspeaker grill.

The video call camera and the loudspeaker grill over the display

The four keys under the large screen share one flat bed, but their press and tactility are excellent. The large D-pad with confirming center is quite user-friendly too.

The nice D-pad and controls replace the Navigation pad of the S7330

Sliding the phone up reveals the keypad with its well defined rows of keys. The rows are well sized and typing is quite comfortable never mind there are no borders between keys within the same row.

The keypad is typing-friendly

The left side houses the volume rocker key and the lanyard eyelet, while the right side features the microUSB port and the camera key. The latter is small but very tactile, and the distinct half press for auto-focus is commendable.

Our only issue with the camera key is that, much like the Samsung Armani Night Effect, it also accommodates the basic Task Manager - the so called application switch, which lets you quickly toggle between calling, texting, browsing and running Java apps.

The left and right sides are relatively bare

The back of the phone is neat and clean with no functional elements. The 5 megapixel AF camera lens gets revealed after you slide the phone up. Right next to is the dual LED flash and the self-portrait mirror.

We are very glad to find that Samsung have finally given up the thin sliding parts that end on a fat camera module - didn't look nice at all. Now the sliding section has the same thickness from edge to edge. You will notice that the Samsung S8300 has the same styling.

The neat back panel

Removing the cover reveals the battery and the two slots: the SIM holder and the microSD card compartment. Unfortunately, handling the memory card requires the phone to be switched off and the battery removed.

The memo card slot is not hot-swappable

Samsung S7350 Ultra s is an unusually tall phone, about the height of a compact candy bar phone. This is due to the big 2.6" display. The phone fits well in hand and is quite easy to control, but we understand that might not be how everyone feels about Samsung S7350 Ultra s.

Samsung S7350 in hand