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CNET editors' rating:
3.5 stars
Very good
Detailed editors' rating - Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 10 reviews
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Product summary
The good: The Samsung SGH-ZX10 is the first (UMTS) phone in North America. It's a quad-band world phone that has a 1.3-megapixel camera with a rotating lens and an LED flash; 50MB of internal memory; and an expandable TransFlash memory slot.
The bad: The Samsung SGH-ZX10 suffers from a monochrome external display, a lack of Bluetooth, and poorly located navigational buttons.
The bottom line: The feature-rich Samsung SGH-ZX10 combines an unassuming design with the latest technology in Cingular's first 3G UMTS cell phone.
Specifications: Carrier: Cingular; Band / mode: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband); Talk time: Up to 300 min; See full specs
CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 02/06/2006
- Updated on:08/28/2006
The postage stamp-size, grayscale external display shows the time, the date, battery life, signal strength, several icon indicators, and your choice of a number of grayscale pictures. When receiving a call, the name or the number of the caller appears but with no picture ID. We could not modify the brightness or the backlight timer on the external screen.
One of our favorite design features of the Samsung SGH-ZX10 is the adjustable camera lens, which swivels from the front to the back of the handset. This design coup allows us to take self-portraits using the internal screen and alleviates the need for a dedicated camera button on the exterior of the phone. A flash is also included; it's just below the camera lens and above the external LCD.
The headset jack, with a convenient sliding cover, is located on the top left of the Samsung SGH-ZX10's spine. Farther down the spine, you will find a volume rocker and the infrared port. The button on the right side of the spine backlights the sub-LCD and also activates a menu that then allows you to change the profile of the phone with use of the volume rocker. The expandable memory slot is also located on the right spine. The power jack is located on the bottom of the phone.
The interior of the Samsung SGH-ZX10 has a bright, rich 262,000-color display with excellent clarity in both dark and light conditions. The four-way navigational toggle is small and has flat edges to accommodate a poorly placed dedicated camera key and programmable menu-shortcuts key above. Unfortunately, we found our minds trained to use these two buttons in place of the correct soft keys because of their location at the top of the phone, an adjustment we had trouble making. The actual two soft keys are backlit and large, though. The control in the center of the toggle launches the Web browser in standby mode, then acts as an OK button when in the menus. Also, each direction of the toggle is conveniently programmable as a shortcut to a user-defined function. The keypad buttons are large, easy to read, and well spaced, but we do wish they were slightly more raised.
The phone book on the Samsung SGH-ZX10 holds 1,000 unique contacts. Each contact stores five numbers, two e-mail addresses, a Web address, a birthdate, a company name, a job title and department, a nickname, and notes. Contacts can be assigned to three predefined groups--family, friends, and business--and paired with one of 15 polyphonic ring tones. There's also photo caller ID but only for the internal display. The handset contains 50MB of internal memory for shared use of all applications. There is also an expandable TransFlash card slot.The other features on the Samsung SGH-ZX10 includes a calculator with a unit converter; an alarm clock; a calendar; a to-do list; a 5-minute voice recorder; a speakerphone; text and multimedia messaging; AIM, ICQ, and Yahoo instant messaging; POP3, SMTP, and IMAP4 e-mail support; PC syncing; and Java (J2ME). Though an infrared port is included, we were disappointed to see no Bluetooth, especially on a 3G phone. Its exclusion just doesn't make sense.
As Cingular's first 3G handset, the Samsung SGH-ZX10 comes equipped for the carrier's new multimedia service: Cingular Video, which allows users to customize a home page with streaming content in categories such as comedy, news, weather, and entertainment. Programming includes CNN; Fox Sports and Fox News; HBO Mobile; Access Hollywood; Adult Swim, which is billed as Cartoon Network's adult programming; TV Guide Channel; ESPN; Speed Channel; NBC; the Weather Channel; and the Disney Channel. You can also get movie previews through iFilm and TV show clips from such programs as Lost, The Tonight Show, and Jimmy Kimmel Live. And don't think kids are left out, as you can watch clips from the Cartoon Network and the especially enjoyable Muppets Mobile. Cingular Video requires a $19.99 Cingular Media Net Unlimited data package, while HBO is an additional $4.99 per month. Music Choice is also $4.99 per month, and music videos are 99 cents for one 24-hour period.
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User reviews
- Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 10 reviews
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