"Its year 2005 and I can honestly say that I don't know a single person above the age of 18 who doesn't own a mobile phone. My boyfriend drives me crazy telling me about the latest mobile technology but to tell you the truth, I just am not interested that much. Now that is not saying that I don't care when it comes down to my own personal phone".
When I buy a mobile telephone I look for several things and take a lot into account.
First and foremost is price. I normally set myself a budget of £150 for an unlocked and sim free mobile phone. After considering the price margin I take into account the technological features that a particular model has.
This brings me to my review of the Samsung - E800 Camera Phone.
Design & Operation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Samsung E800 really does look good, it differs a lot in comparison to the average Nokia type mobile phone (Candybar style) as it features a slide up/down front screen which is on a spring loaded mechanism. When opening the sliding front panel it is very quiet and easy to do simply do so by using your finger to push it up. It is a small phone weighing in at only 85 grams and that's including the battery! It sits nice and snug in the palm of your hand and is very stylish to look at.
The operation of this phone is very simple, it has the usual green (Answer) and red (Hang up) buttons, and these are situated on the front panel of the phone along with the navigation arrows. It's simply designed and would be perfect for even the mobile novice. Simply push up the slide up front cover with your finger to display the number keypad. It's as simple as that. One thing to note though is that if you have big fingers then this is probably not the phone for you, this is because the keys are small and close together.
The phone I have is white and silver in colour but for information purposes I do know that it can be purchased in red and blue as well. It has an internal aerial so there is not a long antenna poking out the top. The reception in general is very strong and clear but again this is also dependant on the network provider. It certainly isn't bulky and will fit very easily into any pocket.
The phone itself has been made well; the spring mechanism is very resistant to being pushed about so it doesn't just literally pop open when in transit. Having had this phone for now 6 months, I haven't got any noticeable scratches on the facia, it goes in my handbag with my keys and other objects so am very surprised at how well the casing has withstood general wear, I will give this model 9/10 for robustness as I feel this is very important when making a buying decision.
"I am not simply going to write a list of what the phone can and can't do; I want to explore in-depth some of the benefits of what this mobile has to offer as far as the technology is concerned".
Noise Cancellation Functionality: My favourite thing that this phone offers me is the 'noise cancellation technology' that is embedded within. This proves to make the clarity of the speakers' voice crystal clear for you to hear. It works by cancelling echoes and ambience around the speaker. This is very beneficial to me, as with a lot of mobile phones I have owned it's sometimes difficult to hear the other person. This is definitely a good marketing point for Samsung as this is the first phone in the world to have this technology.
Background Noise Sensitivity: The E800 also has what they call a 'background noise sensitivity' device fitted so that you can literally stand in a crowded area and still hear the person's voice on the other end - perfect if you are often out and about in pubs and clubs. This is another feature that enhances the overall technological specification for me.
TFT Screen: The E800 boasts a 65,536 colour TFT screen which is very impressive especially when in camera mode. When in use, it offers bright colours and bold text and images can be displayed in 'widescreen'. This is where I became extremely impressed with this particular model of phone. The clarity of images and menu's are sharp and distinctive which aids detail and precision when playing games and using the phone in general.
VGA Camera: Another major technological point to make about this mobile phone is the superb VGA solution camera that is has. It makes for clear pictures and with the built in digital zoom you can capture anything whilst on the move, I have taken some fabulous shots with my E800 and with the strong flash it has, it just adds to the enjoyment of using it to take my snaps. Now the camera may not be top of the range to date, but for general use or a quick snap it is very handy indeed. The camera mode also offers effects such as night mode and multi-shot action snaps which are also good fun to use.
Being Interactive ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WAP 2.0: Being able to interact via technological advances such as WAP is very important to a lot of people including me. The E800 offers WAP 2.0 which is fast and offers a strong connection - obviously this is also dependant on the network provider. Accessing WAP is very simple from literally the touch of a single button on the keypad you can be browsing WAP sites and playing online JAVA games with the in-built JAVA applet. You can access allsorts of other valuable information via WAP and you can even download email applications to use on your phone, it's very reliable when checking emails on the move.
Infra Red: With the internal infra red port, I normally send my pictures taken on my E800's camera to my computer or I will email them to myself to access on my PC. I also use the infra-red port to transfer images and ringtones to and from other people's mobile phones and devices. It's fast and easy to activate on/off and doesn't use up a lot of the battery power.
Power Consumption ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Battery Life: This is an important point of every mobile phone and I can say that to-date I have never been truly impressed with any mobile phone's battery life. Samsung claim that the stand-by time is 130 hours but I would be more inclined to say 96 hours and that's at a push. Talk time is around 2 hours which I think is about average although Samsung again claim that it will last 2.5 hours. I personally don't take this as a disappointment as like I said I have never been impressed with any manufacturers' battery life and I have used Nokia, Sagem and Sony Ericsson phones to name a few.
Re-charging: With regards to re-charging the battery of the E800, it is very easy; the phone comes with a standard in-wall charger and takes about 2 hours to charge fully. The charger plugs into the bottom of the phone itself and again is simple to use.
Entertainment & Media ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Polyphonic Ringtones: The E800 has very clear polyphonic ringtones which support Midi and SMAF formats. They are available to download directly via WAP or to transfer from your pc via data cable or infra red. The speaker volumes can be altered to a level that's best for you. As I find with a lot of polyphonic ringtones, when in a bag or pocket it can be hard to hear them ring, not with the E800; the ringtones are very easily heard and are very distinguishable from the next persons.
Games: With the 6mb of internal memory you can store quite a few games with ease. The phone comes with 2 or 3 as standard but of course with the WAP capabilities you can easily download more. With supporting Java, again this is another superb feature of the E800.
Wallpapers, Skins & Screensavers: With support for JPEG, GIF and AGIF picture formats you can customise your phones wallpaper to a picture of your choice. We all fancy a change from time to time so I constantly take pictures with the camera and then set them as my wallpaper or as my screensaver. There are no customisation limits with what you can do with the E800. You can even change the colour of the skins to one of 4 presets.
Everything Else ~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Okay, so the above in-depth points are to me, the best features of this mobile phone. However this is the bit where I fill in the other gaps for your information….."
Menus & Operation: The user menu icons are slightly animated but no so much that it becomes annoying. The menus are in my opinion very simple to use and the shortcuts make for easy use. You can customise most of the features on the phone by literally pressing only 2/3 buttons so there is no sifting through menu - submenus.
Personal Management: The E800 features personal management functions such as a calendar, scheduler, multiple alarms, a calculator, a phonebook (up to 1000 entries) and currency converter.
Call Management: It also features call management functions such as timing the duration of calls and the call costs function is very useful to use if you are using a prepay network.
Speakerphone: You can activate the speakerphone which adds to convenience of use by simply pressing a single button on the handset. The flip doesn't even need to be up to use this feature.
You may also want to confirm that the E800 is SMS and MMS compatible - its more than compatible, it's very simple to use and you can add audio, text and pictures at the touch of a button.
Platforms: For those of you who may be wondering, the E800 is Dual Band (Will work in America and India) and is GPRS (Class 10).
In The Box ~~~~~~~~~
When purchasing this phone you will be given an in-wall charger, an in-depth user manual and a small lanyard with an attached screen cleaner. It's always worth asking the retailer if they can throw in a hands-free kit for free as well.
Where To Buy ~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Samsung E800 is still a relatively recent release so is available in most high street mobile phone retailers. It will inevitably be cheaper to purchase it online so a search on www.kelkoo.co.uk will return a competitive result. I got mine on special offer for £139.99 so it's worth looking about.
This phone is available to buy locked to a network or unlocked/sim free. For the latter expect to pay a bit more.
There are various accessories that are available to buy for the Samsung E800; these again will be available on the high street and on the internet.
Further Information ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For further information you can visit the Samsung website:
www.samsung.com/uk/products/mobilephones
Conclusion ~~~~~~~~~
If you are looking for a phone that offers class, reliability, robustness yet being able to cope with daily functions then this is, without a doubt, the phone for you. There is only a single complaint I have about this phone and that is that it's not Bluetooth compatible, but seeing as it is infra-red, it still offers no limitations in general daily use for me a moderate mobile phone user.
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