The Genio range has been a winner for Samsung: a series of good-looking touch-screen handsets with good social networking integration at a reasonable price that appeals to the youth market. The first in the range, the Genio Touch, has been a big success since its October launch. We were put off by the lack of 3G, which seemed like an odd omission considering the Touch’s social networking credentials, but the Samsung Genio Slide remedies this oversight as well as adding a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and Wi-fi, without compromising its budget price tag.

Style and handling for Samsung Genio Slide

Because of the keyboard, the Genio Slide is slightly thicker than the Touch, but it’s still a compact little handset. It has a glossy black fascia and the back cover can be changed for a range of included colours.

Like the Genio Touch, the Samsung Genio Slide has a 2.8-inch display. However, the touch-screen here is resistive, as opposed to the superior capacitive type sported by its predecessor. It’s a shame, as capacitive screens are more accurate and reliable. The Slide’s touch-screen lacks smoothness and fluidity, often mistaking the pressure of our fingers as a key press and opening up applications we didn’t want.

Other than the touch-screen, though, the Samsung Genio Slide is superior in every way to the Touch. If it wasn’t for the similar shapes and menu systems, you would be hard pressed to recognise them as siblings.

QWERTY keyboard on the Samsung Genio Slide

The keyboard is the biggest change. When you slide it out the screen automatically changes to landscape mode, and the widget bar stays the same but at the bottom of the display. The keys are comfortable big and while not raised, are differentiated enough that you can type quickly and easily. Arrow keys in the bottom right corner of the keyboard mean you can navigate the menu from here if you get bored of the touch-screen, and there are keys for quick access to the internet and messaging.

Internet on the Samsung Genio Slide

The Samsung Genio Slide has been tolled up with HSDPA and Wi-Fi, making for a speedy internet experience. As a marked improvement on the Touch, you can now stream YouTube videos without pixilation. It also makes social networking swift and easy, as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and the like can all run in the background. You do need to refresh your screen to get the latest updates, but those faster net speeds mean that you can be reading what your friends have been up to almost instantly.

A-GPS on the Samsung Genio Slide

Considering the low price point for the Genio Slide, we were pleasantly surprised to find A-GPS. Buy it on Vodafone and Telmap and Vodafone’s Find & Go will be embedded. Otherwise, you get Google Maps, navigation software and geo-tagging, and the GPS fix is fast and continuous.

The verdict on the Samsung Genio Slide

The Samsung Genio Slide fulfils the potential that we felt the Touch never really reached. Okay, the resistive touch-screen isn’t the best, but the QWERTY keyboard, HSDPA internet speeds and Wi-Fi connectivity make this a great social networking phone. There are more Genio phones on the way, we’re told – we’re looking forward to them

Buy a Samsung Genio Slide From Vodafone By Clicking Here