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"Real World review of an AWESOME phone." on by mdgeidel
Pros: Size (small), Great UI, Metal Case
Cons: Lack of powersave options, no control for external LCD
Summary: Whoa!!! Going from a tank of a Sanyo to this streamlined beauty was one of the smartest moves i have ever made!
Where to begin? Exterior: The phones innards are wrapped up in a metal shell with a very thin coating of “rubber” (for lack of better terms). Well constructed and sturdy to the feel. Opens easily with one hand, closes confidently, yet gently at the same time.
External LCD is simple, FINALLY NOT A POWER WASTER! Tells time, signal, and what accessories are accessed one the phone. Its blue hue is cool and easy to read in any light or situation. My only gripe about this part is there is no time control as to how long the display stays on (pre-set to 8 seconds.)
Battery is easy to access via removable back panel. And for all you who moaned about the location of the SD card, How often are you gonna switch it out? If your answer is less than once a month, don’t knock the location cause it’s not that big a deal!!
DISPLAY OWNS!! This is without a doubt the brightest, clearest display ever seen. Again my only gripe about the display is trivial. Screen saver settings cant be turned “Off”, merely switched to another saver. This is also no big deal since I use the open to answer, close to end call feature. The saver is not even seen when this mode is on, so the gripe is basically a moot point.
Key pad is very easy to use, thanks to large buttons (I have very large hands) this phone is easy to navigate and the UI is so very simple to use. This is one area where this phone HANDS DOWN blows ant Motorola product out of the water. Keys are lit with a white (refreshing change from green/blue) light with full time customization. Also the 4-way navigation button is customizable to anything on the menu.
More on the User Interface (UI). Nearly every part of the user interface is customizable. From the look of menus, to font color (I think there 4 options), to font size can be customized. Text Messeging is fast, and simple. Word selection is an awesome feature which cuts down on time and finger soreness. Just about the only gripe I have with the UI is in contacts, when you select the first letter of the name you are looking for, there is a 1 second delay to make sure you are done typing. This is not at all like all the Motorola UI for the RAZR and KRZR where ALL UI functions have a 3 or longer second delay, so please don’t get that impression.
The speaker is a little lack luster compared to some bigger flips. But the quality is stunning compared to other flat phones, and even some phones larger than this one! Volume is no problem, contrary to what others may say.
The earpiece is excellent. I think the editors of CNET didn’t take the time to move the phone around to find what I call the “sweet spot” over the ear. Trust me, this is loud enough. If you turn it up all the way, watch out!
There is only one port for charging, earphones, etc. I have no problem with this because if it happens to be on the car charger, BLUETOOTH! Again, this was another area that was knocked by editors without using a sense of practicality and using the phones options.
This phone also comes with earphones to listen to music and does all the power vision options. But this review is about how the phone works, not how many extra goodies it has, which it has all of them, but still sticking with how the phone works.
Yes it has a camera. No there is not a flash. If you want hi res pictures to remember BRING A DIGITAL CAMERA!!! If you want fun pictures to keep on your phone to remember your last escapade with your friends, this camera does the job superbly!
CNET nocked this phone for mostly media related items (which seems to be a growing trend with this site….sad.). If you want a phone that is SMALL, well built, easy to use, simple and not overly gaudy and overbearing, then this is your phone.
I have tried to review this based on a sense of practicality and every day use of the PHONE! Not the once in a while use of the media options and gadgets it come with. This phone is the most awesomely-outrageous phone I have had the pleasure to own in a long time. Treat yourself to one! -
"Great phone but not the best option for media or heavy users" on by globex_99
Pros: Looks, feel, quality, size and weight
Cons: No headphone jack or easy way to transfer media
Summary: First off, this was a major upgrade. I've been using a Sanyo 6200 for the past 4 (!) years. It was an incredibly thin candy bar phone that had zero bells and whistles but was a simply a great phone. I've been waiting for an equally thin phone of high quality with a decent mp3 player and other goodies, though I probably won't use those functions often. Battery issues finally forced me to make a move.
I've had this phone for about two weeks and it's nearly as thin and unobtrusive in my pocket as my previous phone. Overall I am very happy with it. It seems to be very high quality (build, connection, voice quality, etc) and battery life is as good as you could reasonably expect - should be fine for most unless you are a very heavy user or maybe using the bluetooth a lot. My wife has the A900 "blade," which seems like a brick compared to this and seems to have worse battery life. With such a thin, light phone you're not going to have 12 hours of talk time.
The internal screen is fantastic and it's also nice to have a phone that doesn't smudge or scratch up on the outside like most of the other thin phones, thanks to the rubbery coating. I won't spend time rehashing the other positives that people cite because I agree with all of them. Still, as much as I like it, I can't give it the highest rating because of a couple of flaws that really detract from this phone's media capabilities:
1) In spite of being billed a media phone and having the capacity for a 1 GB micro SD card (picked up for $5 with mail in rebate), unless you have a card reader attached to your computer or have bluetooth and want to spend days transferring files, there is no way to get your music to the phone. I mistakenly ordered a "20 pin multiadaptor" after going to the Samsung site and seeing its picture (there is literally no product description). It has USB and headphone jack logos on it. Unfortunately it won't actually directly link to a USB cable and the headphone port is not standard size. A Samsung rep told me that even if I ordered their "20 pin to USB" data cable there is no software to support it on the phone! I happen to have access to an SD card reader so this isn't such a big issue for me but seems like a really bizarre oversight. As an aside, kudos to Samsung support for being reachable by phone and employing english native speakers.
2) You could do better than the included ear buds. . . if you were given the option! As it is you can only use the included Samsung headphones or bluetooth wireless headphones because there is no headphone jack. As far as I can tell there is no adaptor that goes straight to a normal size headphone jack. This is problematic for a few reasons. Some people may already have high quality headphones and don't want to lay out the bills for bluetooth ones after spending so much on the phone. I'm one of the many people whose ears don't mesh well with the bud style headphones that are included. Their sound quality seems OK but they're useless to me because they won't stay in my ears. Also, say for instance you wanted to use this with an FM transmitter to listen to music in your non-bluetooth car. Most of those work through the headphone jack so you're out of luck.
Still, overall I am very satisfied with the phone. I didn't buy it for the mp3 or camera capabilities (though a flash would have been nice) - there are probably better options out there for that. I was looking mostly for a thin high quality phone and it hasn't disappointed in that regard.
I haven't tried it yet with a bluetooth headset (for calls; not music) but have one on order and may update my post based on the results. I was able to transfer files from my computer by bluetooth just fine, but be warned that it is slow for large files due to the limitations of bluetooth. -
"Awesome practical phone" on by The Drow
Pros: lots of functions
Cons: plain design
Summary: I recently traded my PPC 6700 for this samsung M610 because where I live the reception is poor and I have a difficult time getting service...well the m610 roams on the verizon networt and gives me a better signal a home then my roomates brand new phone. We have tested it I get 1-2 more bars than the razor, PPC 6700, the Treo, and the krzr. The picture quality is good but a little on the low end for a 2 megapixel camera. The phone is covered in a kinda rubber type material that makes it feel very solid (for its size). The buttons are nicely spaced for a thin phone with just a little bit of texture. Now the C-Net reviewer slammed the external display and the placement of the micro sd card but I will explain why they were done that way. The simple design of the external display really save on the battery power alot (it gives you what you need efficiently). And the placement of the micro sd cards protects it from moisture, dust and debris (which has taken down many cell phones with the slot on the outside). I got a 1G card and I probably will never have to take it out. Media quality is the best I have seen on a cell phone.
This is an EXCELLENT phone with alot of functions and a great feel for a slim phone. Samsung did a great job making the razr seem like a dinosaur. -
"A Very Thin and Open Platform Phone" on by Dianoda
Pros: Size, feel, discreet yet sexy look, interal display is huge and high res, Bluetooth, Micro SD slot, multimedia features, responsive and well designed GUI, plenty loud enough, clear reception, uncommon
Cons: Screen smudges easily, size cap for video ringtones at 512KB, 1GB is max Micro SD card size supported by the phone, Micro SD placement (behind the battery), can only take photos with the phone open
Summary: I can't recommend this phone enough. Reception has been great everywhere I've been with it so far (Illinois, Iowa, Florida, and Ohio). I've had it since December 2006, and haven't had any problems with it at all. Battery life has been solid; I charge it almost every night and have never had below 2 of 3 bars. This thing has really shined as a phone, but it is also quite the multimedia device as well.
This thing will play any media file converted to 3gpp2 (as long as the video is mpeg4 and the audio is aac; this file format is more commonly known as .3g2, for which converters can be readily found for free online), and transferring it to the phone is as simple enough (if you are fairly computer literate, at least).
Here's how to get files from your computer to the phone:
Remove the Micro SD card, connect it to your computer with the included SD adapter (you need an SD card reader installed on your computer), and place the file you want on the Micro SD card (the phone can play both .3g2 video and .mp3 music files) in the proper directory (for custom video ringtones, the file must no larger than 512KB and you must drop it into the \DCIM\100SSMED folder and rename it to something along the lines of SSPX0125, with the 4 digits determining the order in which photo and video files appear in the My Albums section on the phone). If you just want to be able to watch a video or play music on the phone drop the file into the \MEDIA folder. Then reinsert the Micro SD card into the phone and turn it on. Videos and .mp3's can be played from the Media Player app on the phone (accessable from the main menu). Custom video ringers can be assigned by going to the sound settings menu and assigning the video to incoming calls/specific individuals in your phonebook.
Hope this how-to helps. You can also get files (i.e., self-taken photos or videos) off the phone by coping the \DCIM folder to your computer (you must set the phone to record photos and videos to the memory card first). -
"Excellent phone!!!!" on by Bonan123
Pros: Perfect design, Stunning Display, Excellent feature Array
Cons: No Stereo Speakers
Summary: I recently purchased a Motorola KRZR, went through 2 of them in a month, had various problems. I got a new one, and it was just so SLOW. Finally switched to the samsung M610.....A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE!! The samsung has wonderful clarity, better screen, stereo bluetooth capability, feels better in my hand, weighs less, doesn't reset itself and lock up. This phone has every featur you can possibly think of, internal media player, changeable fonts, supports mp3, m4a, and pretty much any format for ringtones. Has close to 40mb of space for ringtones and screen savers and apps. The speaker is not the greatest, but you cant really expect a boombox out of the slimmest clamshell phone in the U.S. Download speeds are 3X faster at least then my KRZR! Phone as a modem works INCREDIBLE. If you are looking for a powerful slim phone, look no further.
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