Shifting trends in technological development have made mobile phones almost chameleon-like in their ability to change in ways that make them better suited to… well, suiting the needs of the ever-growing mobile consumer base. When the rise of the multimedia integration paradigm was prominent, mobile phones were given a shot in the arm by integrated technologies that infused the ability to capture still pictures and video of ever-increasing quality, as well as play back music in MP3 and other file formats. Now the race is to develop an effective, compact handset that allows the user to enjoy social networking capabilities and go online at a whim, and wouldn’t you know it, mobile phones went that way right quick.
One of the mobile phone manufacturers leading the charge in that direction is Samsung, whose phones typically sport solid multimedia, online-access, and social-networking features whenever they can. Sometimes, though, the challenge is to make different combinations of features for different budgets and user bases. The somewhat oddly-named Samsung Smiley [or 
if you can believe that], for instance, is a midrange phone that focuses – as its name implies – on offering messaging features and a user-friendly nature. It’s hampered a bit by a cramped keyboard, but its good range of features and decent call quality round it out nicely as an easy-to-use phone for those on a budget.
At first reminiscent of the Samsung Strive, the Smiley is a slider phone that measures 3.9” long, 2.3” wide and 0.6” deep and weighs a solid 4 ounces, a little lighter than its predecessor but also a little frail-feeling. It looks good, though, and the strange emoticon that is its name never shows up on the exterior. It does, however, appear on the 2.6” TFT display, which is otherwise a fairly attractive display with 320×240 pixel resolution and 262,000 colors. For a midrange phone that doesn’t try to compete with the big smartphone models, it’s more than enough and is actually rather nice with bright colors and graphics [although the contrast is a bit of a problem in direct light].
The screen panel slides up to reveal the physical keyboard, which is a combination numeric keypad and messaging keyboard. Having only four rows of buttons, the keyboard crams a lot of features into only so many keys – some double as numbers and letters, or even symbols and letters. Some of these combinations, though, are more effective than annoying, with www. and .com sharing a button and actually saving you time. There’s also a dedicated button for emoticons, which makes perfect sense considering the phone’s name and focus.
As a midrange phone there’s not a lot of features that really break the bank, but the Smiley actually does offer the full range of standard features along with some special ones, including stereo Bluetooth, assisted GPS with Google Maps and TeleNav support, a voice memo recorder and WiFi. Text and multimedia messaging are joined by instant messaging and Samsung’s Social Buzz option, which lets you access MySpace, Facebook and Twitter. The 1.3-megapixel camera is nothing special but it does turn out fairly good photos and a wide variety of settings that can help you take them. The multimedia player and call features have decent sound quality in common, and help round out what is overall a fairly solid midrange phone.
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