Samsung U900 Soul: Great touchpad and minimalist chic design!

• Author: Moby
• Filed under: Samsung
• Date: Feb 22,2008

Unlike most of Samsung’s phones which just contain the model number and are devoid of a name the Samsung U900 Soul is markedly different. Samsung has not just named this phone but has also gone ahead with a major marketing drive. So is this hype warranted?

Design aspects

In terms of design the Samsung U900 Soul is slim and trendy looking and has the slider mechanism as found in most of their phones. The uncanny resemblance to the LG KF600 cannot be ignored. The sliding mechanism is pretty high end what with slick movement and ease of use. In addition the phone’s design is nothing to rave about although it does have an intuitive Touchscreen interface. Encased in a complete metallic body the phone presents the image of minimalist design with an ultra chic element to it.

Feature rich phone

The Samsung U900 Soul comes with an inbuilt camera with a capacity of 5 megapixels which is much better than most of the phones today. However the camera is devoid of the zoom feature. The phone comes with HSPDA 3G connectivity of around 7.2 Mbps. This again is much above average as compared to several other Touchscreen phones of today. The built in FM radio player also has RDS support. The highlight of the Samsung U900 Soul seems to lie in its interesting and easy to use touchpad. The contextual touchscreen is an added advantage in the phone and it is extremely easy to browse through playbacks, menus and navigate through the various controls on the touchscreen.

Performance aspects

The Samsung U900 Soul has several high end aspects such as the 5 Megapixel camera and fast networking of 7.2 Mpbs HSPDA. These features make for a phone that has above average performance. While browsing through controls and navigation is easy there is still a certain level of innovation left to be desired in the phone. The improved touchpad mechanism is a definite plus in the Samsung U900 Soul which again offers enhanced user friendliness. The phone lacks WiFi but this can be ignored once you consider the superior camera performance and fast connectivity speeds. While the phone does look chic enough when compared to other phones in the market it lags a little behind. Battery life can be expected to be much above average as all Samsung phones are known to have superior battery quality. The great thing about the Samsung U900 Soul though is that when you consider the various features it has and the price of the phone it works out to be a very good deal. Maybe that is the reason why people are so eager to purchase the phone already!

Overall outlook

Going by the looks of it the Samsung U900 Soul seems set to conquer the market. Its relatively good features coupled with the low price it comes at makes for a large consumer base. Besides this the innovative and improved touchpad aids in the navigability factor. On the whole the Samsung U900 Soul can be great to have if you are part of the fashion market!

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tagged: LG, Touchscreen, 3G, Touch, PDA, Samsung, 5 megapixel, KF600, Soul, U900, HSDPA, Autofocus

The Nokia E51: So Much More than What Meets the Eye

• Author: Moby
• Filed under: Nokia
• Date: Feb 22,2008

We fell in love with the E65 instantly, and for a time, we believed it to be the best smart phone Nokia has ever produced. This was not until the release of the Nokia E51. If you would like a smart business phone which provides almost all the perks you need to get life rolling, then the Nokia E51 is worth looking into.

The Nokia E51 looks downright ordinary. Its candy-bar design, relatively leaner built, and compact feel does not make it extraordinarily special. The phone is relatively tall, has a good and tactile Keypad, and has a wonderfully sharp and clear display. The fact that it sports a good number of dedicated and customizable buttons is very noticeable. This makes the E51 all the more convenient. Truth be told, Nokia did not seem to come up with any new design concept for this particular handset. However, in terms of features, the E51 offers so much more inside its deceptively ordinary casing.

The E51 is a quad-band GSM phone equipped with HSDPA and 3G connectivity. It supports Wi-Fe and SIP meaning that installing a special software can allow you access to VoIP. It has a 130MB internal memory, which we find fairly satisfactory with micro-SD extension slots. Of course, Bluetooth and Infra-red are both present. In the E51, there is a basic multimedia software and document readers. Nokia has added a little kick into this handset with its built-in FM tuner. At the back of the E51 is its 2-megapixel camera and its onboard speakers. Though the camera is good enough for the most basic snapshots, you shouldn’t expect to get high quality prints.

We believe that the E51 already has all the necessary features to get you through on a daily basis. As in many other Nokia units, this handset is prone to fingerprint smudges which we found a little troublesome. It also does not have a front-facing camera making video calls futile.

We noticed how the E51 can be very responsive; the menus and applications were activated almost instantly. We did experience some lag time when multiple programs were opened simultaneously, which should be normal. Call quality is decent enough, though the sound became a little hollow on loudspeaker mode. There was also some slight muffling since speakers were located at the back.

The 2-megapixel camera in this handphone can be disappointing. Though picture quality enough to be considered satisfactory, shooting photos while on the move is hardly possible. The photos that came out were not as great. We believe Nokia could have done better on this aspect, though we still loved the E51 despite this weakness.

Despite its shortcomings, it can be very easy to fall in love with the E51. It is easy to use and offers a great load of features. The slim profile, the dedicated buttons, the convenient tactility, the Wi-Fi connection - these are but some of the features that you would like most in a phone. This ordinary looking phone has so much more to offer than meets the eye.

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tagged: 3G, HSDPA, Keypad, Wi-Fi, Nokia, E51, Symbian, Smartphone, E65

The Nokia N95 8GB: The N95 Now Made Way Even Better

• Author: Moby
• Filed under: Nokia
• Date: Feb 22,2008

The phones Nokia has been coming up with in the recent years are very impressive - and they have done it yet again with the N95 8GB. It is one of the most technically advanced of all smart phones that we have seen.

The N95 by Nokia features amazing network connectivity (read: GPS, Wi-Fi, 3G and HSDPA) plus a 5-megapixel autofocus all wrapper in an unbelievably sleek and minute package. The N95 8GB features all these as well as it is its updated version. Though the N95 8GB proves to be a little chunkier than its older brother, it makes up for the additional weight quite well.

The 8GB version is packed with a larger screen for a more exciting viewing experience. The navigation keys at the bottom have been made smaller, yet easier to press. We also noticed how response time is quicker for this unit, and boot-up time is quicker by many notches. Very notable is its black casing, which made this phone sexier and more classy. Another thing we found interesting though is its two-way sliding mechanism which allows hiding of playback keys when the phone is not in use. The two plates of the slider are not prone to shifting, which we found very annoying with the N95 predecessor.

The omission of the expansion card slot in the 8GB version is noteworthy. Though it already has a huge onboard flash memory, we still find it unfortunate that this phone has stripped us of the freedom to expand memory and to switch memory cards. Nonetheless, being a multimedia mammoth, it allows you to install as many applications as you can.

If you think the N95’s camera cover is a good feature, you will be disappointed to know that the 8GB version has done away with that. On the other hand, this can actually be great as it avoids the chances of accidentally activating the camera on your pocket which can happen very often with the N95.

Nokia has tried to come up with a solution to the complaints of many N95 users when it comes to battery life. The N95 8GB comes with a larger capacity 1200mAh BL-6F battery which does make a difference, although only to a slight extent.

We have always found upgraded versions of old mobile phone models disappointing. However, the N95 8GB is surprisingly not disappointing at all. Needless to say, Nokia did a satisfactory job in addressing most of the issues that came with the original N95, and the N95 8GB is definitely a good successor. The bigger screen, fashionable black shade, increased RAM, and more compact built are among the few things to like about this handset. However, if you currently own an N95, we won’t find it practical to upgrade to an 8GB and spend $100.

For what it’s worth, the N05 8GB is still one of the most feature-filled handsets to ever enter the market. In fact, it has been difficult for us to compare it with another phone at par with its features.

The Nokia N95 is available for $679.89 at ElephantCellular

tagged: 5-megapixel, 3G, HSDPA, GPS, PDA, Wi-Fi, Nokia, 8GB N95, Symbian, Smartphone

The Nokia N81: For the Music and Game Lovers

• Author: Moby
• Filed under: Nokia
• Date: Feb 22,2008

The N81 is considered to be the best entertainment powerhouse that Nokia has ever come up with. It is a powerful multimedia device for the music lovers. If you are familiar with the N95, you will probably find them similar in more ways than one.

The N81 is a neatly designed slide phone. It is on the chunky and heavy side, though relatively slimmer than the N95. It exudes a stocky look, which we find classy but not sexy. At first glance, you will notice the much too many buttons and controls found on this handset. Aside from the usual Keypad and navigation keys, it is equipped with dedicated keys for playing and accessing music, video and games.

The N81 contains a whopping 8 Gigabytes of internal memory, which makes it unbeatable. It can store as much as 2,000 songs, and is actually a great music player. It has a 5-band equalizer which can be quite impressive, though the lack of bass is noticeable. It also allows easy playlist management and synchronization with Windows Media Player. If you are tired of your usual songs, you can opt to use the built-in FM radio. The pair of headphones that comes with the package is fairly decent. It supports Bluetooth headsets and 3.5mm mini-jacks just in case you don’t like them.

The N81 has been designed for music-lovers and gamers as well. There are dedicated game keys, and it supports Nokia’s NGage game series. However, we will not recommend you to get this phone purely because of its gaming potential. Though the excellent 3D graphics can be impressive, we are still not fully convinced that this handset can provide you as much enjoyment as a game console like Sony PSP will.

The N81’s connectivity is great. It supports Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and HSDPA for faster 3G downloads. Call quality and reception are also great, as in all Nokia handphones.

The N81 is not the perfect phone though. First, the N81 supposedly features a directional pad which can also be used as a Touch wheel as in the iPod. However, we found it practically unusable since they were just not as sensitive. Also, the built-in camera has a sad resolution of 2-megapixels. This should be good enough; it’s just that we have seen better cameras in the Nokia series.

Another gripe we have about this phone is that it has the tendency to slow down or even freeze if you push it hard on the applications. Although the 8GB capacity helps, it is just not as fast as the N82 (which features a good 128MB RAM). When run in the background, the music player can play lag free, while the currently open application are the ones which take on the slight lag.

Despite its imperfections, the N81 is still one of the best full-featured music- and game-dedicated phones we have ever seen. Though we would have wished for it to be a little slimmer and more fashionable than it is, we have definitely no problems recommending this phone.

The Nokia N81 is available for $496.00 at ElephantCellular

tagged: 3G, HSDPA, Touch, Keypad, Wi-Fi, Nokia, N81, N95, 8GB, Symbian

The Nokia 6500 Classic: Truly Slim, Truly Classic

• Author: Moby
• Filed under: Nokia
• Date: Feb 22,2008

Finally, Nokia has come up with something great, proudly sleek and slim with the release of the Nokia 6500 Classic. While all the other cellphone makers have been up on their toes with slim offerings, Nokia seemed to have been slow to adopt with this trend. It first came up with the 6300 in 2006, and now the 6500 which is its slimmest Nokia we have seen so far.

Needless to say, we like the design and the leanness of the 6500 Classic. It may not be as thin as other slim phones, but it is comfortable enough to handle comfortably and to fit in shirt pockets. The Keypad is average-sized and tactile which makes them easy to press, unless you have really big thumbs, that is.

The 6500 Classic’s design exudes a more streamlined profile since thee is only a single port for data connectivity, charging and audio. The downside is that it makes multi-tasking virtually impossible to do. However, you can charge and synchronize at the same time since the data cable is bundled with a charger; an idea which is not at all bad. The 6500 classic is simply a classic phone. Aside from the onboard speakers positioned at the rear and the 2-megapixel camera with LED flashlight, there is practically nothing worth noting in terms of design.

Before we proceed, try not to confuse yourself with the 6500 Slide. The 6500 slide is obviously slide type, is more bulky but has better features to compensate for its bulk (such as a 3.2 megapixel Carl Zeiss camera for instance and an expansion slot). The 6500 Classic is equipped with a lowly 2-megapixel camera and does not have an expansion slot. However, it does provide a 1GB onboard memory which we find sufficient enough for storing photos and about 200 or so songs.

The 6500 Classic has improved imaging features because of built-in LED lights. We are still not contented though since it has no autofocus. This goes without saying that this 6500 is not meant to be as strong as an imaging solution as in the N series. The LED lights also didn’t seem enough, though fairly decent pictures can be taken under dim conditions.

The 6500 features a music player (which actually can play videos as well) which support regular music formats. It unfortunately does not have an FM tuner. Audio quality seems very satisfactory for the 6500 Classic both for calls and on speakerphone. The Nokia 6500 Classic relatively has a long battery life which can last up to 9 days on standby and 3.5 hours continuous talk time. The response time of the 6500 Classic is also quite excellent, as we didn’t experience any notable lags when switching applications.

The 6500 is indeed a classic. With its slim and sleek design, its sharper look and its compact features make it an outstanding handphone. Though it does not have video call capabilities, nor can shoot excellent image quality, the elegance and the look it exudes well compensates for all the rest of its shortcomings.

The Nokia 6500 Classic is available for $319.89 at ElephantCellular

tagged: Keypad, Nokia, 6500 classic, 6300