Samsung Galaxy W review

A core pillar of any modern smartphone is it messaging capabilities. Here the Samsung Galaxy W once again covers all the basics and most common extras but fails to push the boundaries to set itself apart from the crowd of similarly priced devices, such as the Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray and some full QWERTY-touting BlackBerry handsets.

In typical Android fashion, messages are simple and easy to read, with a well sized and spaced font enabling quick absorption of incoming content, be it via SMS or email.

One of the Samsung Galaxy W's stumbling blocks while constructing messages - an issue that rolls across to its search and browser functions - is its slightly cramped and narrow-lettered keyboard in portrait mode.

Thanks to its full touchscreen interface, the Samsung Galaxy W's QWERTY keyboard offering is that of the Android software and TouchWiz UI. While not offensive or cumbersome to use, the touch QWERTY input will result in many users with average to larger-sized digits repeatedly finding themselves correcting errors and accidentally pressing multiple keys.

Although this issue is less apparent when holding the phone in landscape orientation, Samsung has largely corrected the issue itself with the inclusion of the Swype input system. This enables you to simply drag your finger between letters with the software then filling in the likely desired words - a system that, more often that not, works.

Continuing its run of user-friendly features, both email and SMS messaging services feature prominently on the handset's main home screen direct from the box, with MMS messages able to be sent via a simple tap on the attachments option while in the messaging menus.