Samsung Genio QWERTY review

The Samsung Genio QWERTY supports H.263, H.264, MPEG4 and WMV video file formats, although not DivX or Xvid files like some higher end Samsungs.

The screen space and resolution limit the quality and viewability you can expect from the player however.

The phone's music player provides a better than average audio performance however, with a 3.5mm standard headphone socket on top enabling you to upgrade the in-box ear-wear with your own earphones.

The supplied headset isn't bad, though – the in-ear earphones are a few notches above what you'd normally expect from a budget phone.

Sound quality is decent, delivering loud volume, plenty of low-end thump and an acceptable amount of detail.

It's not a particularly subtle performance, but it's more than you'd expect from a budget handset - and you can upgrade sound quality easily with better headphones.

The music player software is familiar Samsung stuff; tunes downloaded or sideloaded to the phone or slipped in on a memory card are automatically filed under appropriate categories.

The user interface is low-key but serviceable, and does the job. When playing, the D-pad takes care of control business in regular fashion, with cover art supported if available.

Among the other options, there are several equalizer sounds, shuffle control and so on. MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+ and WMA files are supported.

No USB data cable is supplied in-box nor Samsung PC Studio software – they're an optional extra if you want to copy over music that way.

You can still copy files via Bluetooth, or slip them in on a MicroSD card – the Genio QWERTY can accommodate cards up to 8GB. Orange Music Store service is also supported on Orange-branded handsets.

On top of the music player there's an FM radio function with RDS covering 87.5Mhz-108Mhz frequencies.

As well as being a breeze to tune in and use, either automatically or manually, you can record clips from the radio to play back on the phone.