Samsung S400 Tri Band Mobile Phone (1)
Overclocker 18 Aprr 2003

Samsung S300

What would you look for when purchasing a mobile phone ? Trendy and fashionable or just plain simple with a heft of functions. So far, we have seen phones that either have a streamline design but lacks in function or vice versa. The next probable thing to look out for is the functionality, e.g. GPRS, dual or triband, MMS, Java, infra-red, polyphonic ringtones, colour screens etc. Next it would be the accessories that comes with it e.g. batteries, hanging strap, ear piece, software, firmware upgrades, ease of personalising the phone with ringtones and background pictures.

The Pacakge

Today, we are going to take a look at the Samsung S300, the latest lightwight 65K/256 dual colour screen phone for the busy young executives that travels a lot within Asia and Europe and to N. America. The Samsung S300 can be said as an improved version of the T400 we reviewed sometime ago. The S300 comes in a nicely package and it consists of two batteries, a charger, hanging strap, ear piece, manual, CD-ROM and a data cable for updating SIM card phone entries and to upload ringtones and background images. The package comes bundled with two 570mAh Lithium lon batteries talk time up to 3 Hr Standby time up to 225 Hr.

Finished in metallic silver and clam shell design, this phone has a small dimension of 80 x 40x 20mm in size and weigh only 70 grams. It has a dual colour screen, the internal UFB 65K (128 x 128 pixels) colours screen is bright and clear. To avoid blocking your nice photos, you can also turn off the operator name. The external screen is a 96 x 64 pixels 256 colours screen showing various information like data, time, battery life, reception level etc. There is also a service Light which you could set to Red, Green Blue, Yellow, Cyan, Violet or White which glows.

On top of that, 40 polyphonic channel ringtones can be personalised for specific user group. The ringtone is very loud and not only MMF tones can be programmed, voice can be programmed into the ringtone using third party software like psmplayer. The phone has 45 Embedded (40 Polyphonic ring tones) and more than 12 downloadable (* The download memory allocation of ring tone and image can be readjusted according to demands of the user.) Additional ring tones can be easily downloaded via GPRS or through the software and datacable provided using Easy GPRS 2.0.7. You can also select from polyphonic keypad tones, messaging tones, alarm tones and power on/off tones. The background image of the phone to the preloaded images or images downloaded from the web using GPRS or the Easy GPRS 2.0.7 through data cable. The ringtones, SMS tones can be assigned to specific user groups so that you can identify if the calls is from your friend or from your family etc.

Java Technology

JAVA is a leading mobile platform allowing the downloading of independently run applications and their offline execution. JAVA makes different standards and devices available and compatible anytime, anywhere. JAVA will satisfy market and consumer demands for high-functional and customizable mobile phones. Get ready to fully embrace the amazing wonders and endless information of the multimedia digital era with the SGH-S300.

SMS

The phonebook can store up to 500 entries in phone's memory + SIM card entries. The navigation system of this phone is straightforward and customisable shortcut keys. You should be able to find out where most of the functions are located within minutes. The phone comes with T9 input for SMS input which is rather fast in response. SMS can be stored on SIM card (limited to card's space) or phone's memory of 50 SMS. The only thing that it is only available in English and Indonesian. (A S308 is available for Chinese market). EMS is supported and you can send installed icons with messages.

Organiser

For the executives, you might find many useful functions design for you under the Organiser menu. They includea Calendar, To Do list, Time & date, ALarm, Calculator, Currency Exchange.

Games

If you are bored, check out FUNBOX, you can try out the 2 games Honey Ball and Hamster and 2 other Java games Bowling and Midp Man,  games Bowling, Speed Up, Honey Ball that comes with the phone.

Conclusion

Samsung S300 has a streamline design which appeals to the professionals as it has all the necessary schedulers, alarms and ringtones that will make you stand out from the crowd. I especially like the 40 channel polyphonic ringtones and I would resist answering the phone just to let the phone ring a little longer.

I particularly love the 65K colour screen. All the colour images can be displayed vividly on the screen. The only drawback is that it will appear dim under strong sunlight especially in tropical countries making it difficult to read the contents on the screen.

In terms of features, this phone has much more to offer compared to the Samsung T400. There is GPRS, Java, IrDA support on this phone. The only thing is that is lacking is the MMS function. As for worldwide coverage, yes it provides tri-band network support, GSM900/1800/1900 making it a better choice for our friends who travels around the world. Similar to Taiwanese manufacturers, Samsung has also included the software and data cable for transmitting SIM card entries and images/ringtones. This is a good move so that the user will be able to make tap the capabilities of the phone than to go and spend money downloading ringtones/images using GPRS.

During our tests, we find that the interface are user friendly, esp the shortcut keys to ringtones and SMS. The voice quality is excellent. SMS input response is exceptionally fast. The ringtones are very loud and I have to tone it down to level 5 out of 6. GPRS configurations are also already available for Singtel/M1/Starhub all ready, thus little configuration is needed. Reception is good and there are no drop calls so far. I would recommend this phone to working professionals who needs a sleek phone which will definitely stun all your colleagues.

Pros :

• Lightweight

• 65K colours / Dual screen

• Ringtones very loud

• Data Cable/CDROM provided

Cons :

• No MMS support

• No Chinese support

• No Camera

• No additional memory slots for expandability

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