Samsung F490: Hands-on with an iPhone wannabe

By Andrew Lim on 22 April 2008, 10:58am

There's always a kid who tries to copy the coolest kid in class but fails miserably, heaping ridicule and wedgies upon himself. The coolest kid at mobile school right now is the Apple iPhone -- he's very touchy-feely and wants you to browse the Web with him all the time.

A new pupil called Samsung F490 just turned up. Having seen how popular iPhone is and desperately wanting to fit in with all the other kids, Samsung F490 begged his mum to buy him a touch-sensitive screen.

Yesterday though, the two phones met in the corridor on their way to physics, and looking Samsung F490 up and down, iPhone said, "Hey, nice look!" But nerdy N95 and trendy Viewty were giggling behind his back.

That's right, it might look like an iPhone and even have better specs than an iPhone, but it simply isn't the real thing. Similar to the Samsung F700, the F490 -- which is available on a monthly contract with Vodafone -- looks the part but is let down by a poor user interface.

We've been playing around with it for a few days now and while it boasts a 5-megapixel camera, a 3.5mm headphone jack and HSDPA, we're disappointed by its touchscreen. It feels less responsive than we expected and the Croix user interface is awkward to use.

If Samsung keeps this up and doesn't update its user interface and produce more sensitive touchscreens, it's going to get its lunch money nicked and its head flushed down the toilet. Word on the playground has it that Samsung is busy working on a new UI though, so fingers crossed. Expect a full review of the Samsung F490 soon. -Andrew Lim

Update: Read our full Samsung F490 review.