MWC: Samsung Monte S5620 replaces the Player Star

Because it's not like Samsung to have fewer than ten different mobiles on offer at once, the Korean manufacturer needed to make time at MWC to revamp its Player range.  The first handset to be replaced is the Player Star.

Don't expect to be bowled over by the new Monte: to say it's a gradual evolution would be putting it mildly.  With a 3'' 240 x 400 pixel screen, the S5620 will get a 3.2 MP camera that can geotag your photos thanks to its A-GPS module.  To keep you entertained, the music player suppers MP3, WMA and AAC while both MPEG4 and WMV video are available, as well as an FM radio.


To keep its specs up to date, the Monte will have WiFi and Bluetooth 2.1, and all of this will be in a handset measuring just 108.5 x 54 x 12.4 mm weighing 92 g.  Using a new update of the TouchWiz interface (version 2.5), the new handset will provide easy access to social networking with even more sites supported out of the box, but doesn't really innovate in any other areas.

The S5620 is promised to have a battery life of 5 hours of talk time and 450 hours on standby, and will go on sale from next month, when it will be joined by two other models, the Monte Slider (E2550, with a sliding keyboard) and the Monte Bar (C3200, a smaller candy bar phone).  Let's hope these latest members of the family manage to last a little longer than some of Samsung's other Player phones ...

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