This year we’re going to see a lot of high end phones all trying desperately to compete with the iPhone and each other. The iPhone, love it or hate it, has completely changed the way that manufacturers and users think about their phones. Its not just all about what it looks like, but what it does, and how it does it. Over the last 2 years, the number of touch screen handsets available has gone through the roof, with just about every manufacturer now making full touch screen, finger friendly devices.
Samsung have had massive success already with the Omnia and the Tocco, and LG did brilliantly with the Viewty. These two manufacturers have always been fierce rivals, always wanting to out do the other one, so with them both releasing new handsets at the same time, I thought I’d put the Samsung Tocco Ultra Edition up against the LG Arena to see how they compare.
Now, like most people in the mobile phone world, I’ve known these two phones were coming for a while, and always thought they were going to be 2 versions of the same thing, but when I powered them up I realised this wasn’t the case.
LG Arena:
The first thing I noticed about the Arena is that its actually quite a small and compact looking device. Brushed steel finish and dark glass screen make it look like a solid phone that will take its fair share of knocks. The screen is clear and bright, and although it did appear to be slightly smaller than that on the LG Cookie the resolution of the screen is 4 times that of most mobile phones, making this phone perfect for viewing photos and video playback. For the controls there are just 3 touch sensitive buttons under the screen.
The Arena is the first handset to run the new S-Class menu system, which replaces the one found on the LG Viewty which I’d found to be a bit awkward and limited at times. S-Class works really well, its smooth and quick to respond. The centre button launches a shortcut widget, which is basically a 3D cube that you rotate to jump straight to your contacts, media, widgets and full menu, and you can customise these if you want by adding widgets – small applications that let you play music, write messages, check facebook etc, without having to dig through all the other menu screens to find it. The only slight negative I found here was that the full menu screen was a little overwhelming, due mainly to the number of icons on it – especially in landscape mode.
Landscape mode works quite well, although as with most phones there was a slight delay before the display changed. On the messaging screens, rotating the screen provides you with a qwerty keyboard, and portrait gives you the standard keypad layout out that you’ll find on standard mobiles. Haptic feedback is on by default, but found it to be a little annoying after a while!
The Camera is easy to use, and has a surprising amount of settings for a camera phone – pretty much everything can be adjusted to help you get the best picture. In terms of camera features, it has image stabilisation and geo-tagging, which will allow you to see where your photo was taken if you use online photo sharing sites such as flickr or Picassa.
Samsung Tocco Ultra Edition:
The Tocco Ultra Edition is a slightly different handset to the LG Arena, apart from the obvious difference (the slide down keypad) they appear on paper to do similar things, but there are a numbe rof differences. Size wise, its about the same as the Arena although it is a little heavier – not that its a bad thing, it certainly feels solid in your hand. Screen size looks the same, but is actually 0.2" smaller and the resolution is lower. The screen is an AMOLED screen, which uses less power and provides sharper colours than a standard TFT LCD.
The Tocco Ultra Edition has physical keys under the screen rather than touch sensitive ones, and these are used for answering and ending calls and a ‘back’ button for returning to the previous screen. The menu system here is a little more conventional, and those of you who have used Samsung handsets in the past will find it all very familiar. Everything is laid out in a clear and easy to use manner. The Tocco Ultra Edition also uses widgets to let you launch/control applications a little bit quicker.
Landscape mode is very different on this phone to that on the LG Arena in as much as it’s only available in certain screens – mainly the media gallery, unlike the Arena where its available in most applications. Messaging on the Tocco Ultra Edition is simpler than the Arena, there is no qwerty keyboard, but you do have the choice of using either an on screen numerical keyboard or the physical keypad on the phone. I’m used to typing on a qwerty keyboard now, so I found this to be a little strange at first, but if you want to take the step to touchscreen, but don’t want to re-learn how to use your mobile, then the Tocco Ultra Edition is an excellent cross over device.
The Camera on the Tocco Ultra Edition is a step up from that on the LG Arena, it’s 8MP rather than 5, although unless you’re planning on printing your photo’s out in large sizes or doing a lot of editting and cropping, you probably won’t notice much of a difference. Other features on board include image stabilisation and geo-tagging – the same as the LG, but the Tocco Ultra Edition also has smile and face detection. In a nutshell, this will focus on people’s faces in the photo and removes the need for you to time the shot just right, just press the button and the camera will take the picture once everyone in the frame is smiling:
Features at a glance:
The handsets are quite similar, and the full list of features is quite long, so I’ve highlighted some of the key features below. If there is something else that you want to see listed here, leave a comment below:
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LG Arena
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Samsung Tocco Ultra Edition
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Size (mm) |
105.9 x 55.3 x 12
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110 x 51.5 x 12.7
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| Weight |
105g
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105g
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| Screen Size |
3"
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2.8"
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| Screen Resolution |
480 x 800
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240 x 400
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| Camera Resolution |
5MP
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8MP
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| GPS |
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| Wi-Fi |
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| Physical Keypad |
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| Radio & MP3 Player |
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| Internal Memory (Max Mem. Card) |
8GB (16GB)
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80MB (16GB)
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| 3.5mm Headphones |
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In Summary:
Both handsets do a great job, but after playing with them for some time now, I’m sure that they will both appeal to different types of user. If you’re someone who likes their phone to do everything a phone can possibly do, or are a heavy text/email user and prefer a qwerty keyboard, then I’d say that the Arena will suit you better. The Tocco Ultra Edition is the perfect choice if you want a high resolution camera, like the idea of a touch screen phone, but don’t want all the bells and whistles normally associated with touch screen devices.
If you’ve got one of these handsets – let us know your thoughts below.
I’ve got the samsung tocco ultra and I think its better then the arena, the 8mp camera rocks, internet access if fast and easy to use. it includes some really good apps and games. the 2 messaging options of keyboard and touchscreen makes it versatile. its easy and straightforward in general.
defffinately 10 out of 10.
Hi, I am stuck with Tocco Ultra and Arena. I’m pretty sure I’m going to get the Arena because the only good thing about the Ultra is the camera (which im not fussed about really) and the keyboard. But WHY do you need touchscreen AND keyboard? Its mad to you ask me. Whereas the Arean has…EVERYTHING! Choose the Arena definately :)
Not that I’m aware of at the moment, but I’d be very surprised if there isn’t one in the pipeline.
(if so where??) :)
Hello, is it possible to get facebook, hotmail or any other shortcuts icons on the arena?
Wifi is jut a faster connection method to the Internet. If a phone has wifi you can connect to your home wireless networks or hot spots. It’s the same as connecting through your network, but faster and normally cheaper than using 3G
What is the difference between wi fi and then internet? i just looked up the tocco ultra on the internet and says it has the internet and everything; im getting it on monday cant wait!
Just swapped my old HTC Touch Diamond for Tocco Ultra. Definately missing the storage, but there is a card available to sort that out. Tocco Ultra is def what you want if you want real buttons. A year of having no buttons really got to me, and slightly frustrated me. The only thing I would say is that the tocco ultra should have a ‘back’ button on the keypad as opposed to having to switch between the two.
Hi Molly, I wouldn’t say that was 100% acurate, but the Arena is a more powerful phone and will cope better if you plan on storing lots of music, photos films on it.
For me, the Tocco Ultra was more of a standard phone, with a touch screen, rather than being a proper multimedia phone.
If I had to chose, I’d go for the Arena
I don’t know if it’s true, but people say that the tocco ultra is really slow at doing everything and that you can’t upload musch stuff or it just gets too slow, like a computer does.
Is this true??? I realllyyy don’t know which one to get.
I have the Tocco Ultra and am loving it, the res on the arena is better and gives a better quality picture on most things, but the physical keypad just tops it for me, sometimes you just can’t be bothered typing on the touch screen, its just easier to slide it up and use the keypad, then you can go about your day while typing rather than staring down at your phone. The wifi is a huge advantage for the arena in my opinion, an is the only reason i would choose the arena, if i did, but i wouldn’t, judging the interface, ease of use, features, camera, and looks, I’d go for the Tocco every time.
I found from playing around with both of them that the arena is a little more fun to use although both have a simple easy to use layout. Also the schneider optics on the arena made it a little better at focusing on objects than the tocco ultra but you have to be very picky to see it.
Hope this helps people.
Hi Louise,
For internet I’d go with the LG Arena. The browser is more user friendly and will cope better with sites such as facebook and you can use the browser in landscape mode. The tocco ultra can only be used in portrait mode and web addresses need to be typed in using the 1-9 keypad, rather than the onscreen qwerty.
Wi-Fi is a massive bonus too, as you’ll get faster and more reliable connection speeds than you will from only using 3G networks – its cheaper too!
Hi, im due an upgrade in may. I want to get a phone that is good on the internet like using facebook..and looking at my emails.
I see the LG has wi fi..i like both phones but unsure about which one will be better for using the internet.
Could i have an opinion on what you think please.
thanks