Samsung S5600

...ended up getting the new(ish) Samsung GT-S5600. The contract is with Orange Dolphin and costs £15 a month and includes the phone, 100 minutes of calls to any network and unlimited texts.

---The Phone Itself---

The phone is a bar phone, not slide or swivel. It is approximately 10cm/4” in length and 5.5cm/2” in width. My version is in nice pale lilac though it does come in black and white. The screen is a touch screen, ...
...the base of the phone there is three buttons, two of equal size with a nice brush metal effect, the equal size buttons are the ones that allow you to answer calls and end them. In between the two equal buttons is a square button, the ‘back button’, made of a clear plastic. On the right hand side of the phone is the volume control button and on the opposite side there are two buttons. One at the base and one at the top; the button at the top is to ... more

My old phone decided to die on me a few weeks ago. So I decided it was time to invest in a new one, and I decided to go on contract. I ended up getting the new(ish) Samsung GT-S5600. The contract is with Orange Dolphin and costs £15 a month and includes the phone, 100 minutes of calls to any network and unlimited texts.

The phone is a bar phone, not slide or swivel. It is approximately 10cm/4” in length and 5.5cm/2” in width. My version is in nice pale lilac though it does come in black and white. The screen is a touch screen, and measures 4.5cm wide and 6cm in length. At the base of the phone there is three buttons, two of equal size with a nice brush metal effect, the equal size buttons are the ones that allow you to answer calls and end them. In between the two equal buttons is a square button, the ‘back button’, made of a clear plastic. On the right hand side of the phone is the volume control button and on the opposite side there are two buttons. One at the base and one at the top; the button at the top is to lock and unlock the phone and the button at the base controls the camera. Above the volume control button is the slot that allows for a phone charm to be hung from the phone, the phone charm hangs well and does not stick out, like I have found on some phones. The phone is charged from the socket at the top that is also the socket for the head phones. The socket is covered by another piece of plastic to save it from dust and other things that you would not want to get inside your phone. You are able to insert a memory card in your phone and then move any files e.g. pictures taken on your camera onto the memory card. The phone itself does not have a stylus which is unusual for a touch screen phone.

After unlocking your phone you get to your home screen on which you can place a number of different symbols and shortcuts. These include; music player, Bluetooth menu and a clock. On the home screen at the base of it there are 4 buttons; ‘dial’ (the number screen), ‘address book’, ‘messaging’ and ‘menu’. After selecting the menu button you obviously go to your menu screen. On this screen there are 12 different buttons to select;
-Applications; from here you can access your camera, your Bluetooth, your radio etc.
-Address Book; you store all your contacts here, you are able to put in both first name and last name, two numbers and an email for each person.
-Media Album; from here you can access your images, videos and sounds.
-Orange Games; this is a where you can play the demo games already loaded onto your phone and download more if you wish.
-Messaging; here you can access your inbox, outbox, sent items and email inbox
-Orange World; this is where you can access your internet from, some sites are free others are not.
-Orange Messenger; from her you can access your instant messaging with your hotmail address.
-Call History; this stores all your missed calls, received calls and dialled calls.
-Music Store; here you can purchase music for you phone directly from your phone.
-Organiser; this includes a calendar, calculator and memo and task reminders.
-Orange Photos; from her you can upload your photos to ‘Bebo’ and another album etc.
-Settings; here you can control your time and date, your security and your phone profiles.

The phone is easy to use and everything you need is directly at your fingertips, literally. The menu is clear and easy to use. Nothing is hidden it is all where you would expect it to be. The phone has Bluetooth and internet access. When getting the phone new on contract you get the first 2 months of internet usage in the evenings and at weekends free. And after the two months it can cost anything up to £1.50 per day. The texting on the phone is simple and you can use predictive text if you wish, though you can also use it normally. The camera on the phone is also very good and takes good photos for a phone camera; it is a ‘3.2 mega’ camera.

The touch screen gets dirty very easily and I’m sure would get scratched though I keep my phone in a sock (a phone sock). Another disadvantage is the fact every time you select something on the screen the phone either makes a noise or vibrates and as of yet I have not found a way of preventing that from happening.

Overall I think this phone is worth the £15 a month as you get good value for your money with unlimited texts and 100 minutes. It is easy and simple to use for all ages and in the different colours is good for both men and women. I am pleased that I chose this phone and would recommend it to everyone. Often people say that touch screens are not as good as the blurb says though with this it is not the case.
Overall a good buy.
 

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