Samsung SPH-M300 review (red, Sprint)

In addition to the launch of the multimedia-centric Samsung SPH-M510, Sprint also introduced the Samsung SPH-M300 this week for customers looking for a more basic and budget-friendly camera phone. The stylish and compact flip phone is equipped with a VGA camera and a speakerphone, and it even manages to throw in a couple of nice extras, including voice dialing and integrated Bluetooth--all this for $29.99 with a service agreement. The phone offers good call quality, but it's disappointing as a camera phone. As such, we think you can get a better camera phone and more for your money with the Samsung SPH-M500. However, the M300 is a fine and stylish choice if you just want a cell phone for making calls. The Samsung SPH-M300 is available in red or silver; our review unit came in red.

Design
A cell phone doesn't have to be flashy or superthin to be considered stylish; there's beauty in simplicity and the Samsung SPH-M300 is proof of that fact. Plus, it's got some sass of its own as the entire front flap has a cool mirrored face and you can choose from two color choices: dark silver or misty-rose red. At just 3.6 inches by 1.9 inches by 0.7 inch and 2.6 ounces, the clamshell M300 is compact, light, and functional. And despite the featherweight design, the handset has a solid construction and is comfortable to use as a phone.

Hidden behind the mirrored face, there's a 1-inch, 65,000-color screen with a 96x96 resolution that shows the time, date, battery life, signal strength, and caller ID (where available). You can switch between a digital and analog view, but there's no way to change the font size or the screensaver of the external display. You can, however, use it as a viewfinder for self-portraits; the camera lens is located just above the screen. There is a camera activation key on the right spine along with a 2.5mm headset jack and a power connector port, while there's a volume rocker on the left side.

The Samsung SPH-M300 features a smallish 2-inch diagonal internal screen with a 128x160 pixel resolution. Colors are bright and we had no problems reading text or numbers on the screen, even under sunlight. We do wish the screen's resolution was slightly higher, as images looked very pixilated. Unlike on the external display, you can change the font size, color, screensaver, and backlighting via the Settings menu.