Three years after the launch of the Tocco Lite, Samsung has unleashed another budget handset on a tech-hungry world. While the Tocco Lite 2 doesn’t sport the most original or exciting name, the question is, is it any good?
Well-rounded
Since the original Tocco Lite was launched it’s been no slouch for Samsung, shipping in excess of 30 million units globally – so that leaves big shoes to fill for the Tocco Lite 2. Typically Sammy-styled, this ‘Modern Black’ handset bears more than a passing resemblance to Apple’s iPhone 4S, doing away with the 'Call' and 'End' hard keys and leaving one central ‘Back’ button. The screen reaches to the edges of a smoke-chrome accent so aesthetically that the handset is nothing to be ashamed of whatsoever. The back cover is textured with a 3.2-megapixel camera peeking through, but we’ll get to that later.
A power/lock button is housed on the right side of the chassis and a volume rocker on the left. The Micro USB socket is on the bottom but the most welcome addition is the 3.5mm headphone jack, replacing Samsung’s proprietary socket that blighted the original Tocco Lite. Size-wise, the Tocco Lite 2 is comparable with its predecessor, measuring in at 102x58x11.5mm, making it perfectly pocketable.
Under the hood
A three-inch TFT touch-screen offers QVGA resolution of 240x320 pixels, so don’t be expecting Blu-ray quality as you navigate your way around the TouchWiz user interface. The Tocco Lite 2’s screen is at least capacitive, however – a big step up from the resistive technology of the original handset. An area Samsung has chosen not to evolve is the TouchWiz Lite operating system – a brave move when app-rich Android smartphones are plummeting in price on the high street.
The Tocco Lite 2 gives a choice of a couple of themes and up to seven home screens, but they’re very limited when it comes to customisation and quite laggy. Thankfully the touch-screen is responsive and once you dip into the menu, it becomes apparent who this handset is targeting. Facebook, Twitter, a Communities shortcut, IM and Samsung’s ChatON app identify this phone as a social networking tool for those on a budget. Unfortunately, like the original Tocco Lite, 3G is still but a dream (although the Tocco Lite 2 does boast Wi-Fi technology, so providing you’re within a hotspot, you can get a decent web connection on the go). Don’t fret if you’re a smartphone newbie either, as handy wizards make setting up all your accounts an absolute breeze.
The virtual keypad is a good size and reacts well to taps, making it easy to call either contacts or dial numbers. Sadly, texting is not so positive. You can choose between a keypad or QWERTY keyboard, the latter of which is so cramped you’ll become best friends with backspace. Conversely, the body text of the message is so large that you could almost hold it up for the recipient to read rather than press send.
Music and camera
The 3.2-megapixel camera we mentioned is the same one featured on the original Tocco Lite. It’s fixed-focus and has no LED flash but does a reasonable job for snapping in good light. Once you’ve plugged your headphones into that 3.5mm socket there’s also a built-in FM radio with RDS. Alternatively, the music player is good for MP3, WMA and AAC formats, but you’ll need a microSD card because the Tocco Lite 2’s on-board storage is a paltry 20MB.
The verdict
We found the Samsung Tocco Lite 2 a frustrating little mobile. A good-looking handset, it suffers from style over substance and is in danger of getting left behind by the competition in its price bracket. Three years after the original Tocco Lite, this is the technological equivalent of that ‘difficult second album’.
Michael Wilson