Samsung SGH-Z500 Triband/WCDMA Megapixel Camera Phone (5)
Bluetooth 4 Aug 2005

Conclusion

The Samsung SGH-Z500 is the second 3G phone from Samsung. Due to its clamshell design, it is one of the smallest 3G phone to date among all different manufacturers. With a memory of only 50MB, it seems a bit on the low side. Although the phone comes with Transflash slot, Samsung didn't provide one in the package for us to try out. The good of Z500 is that it supports a 1.3 mpixel camera with another VGA internal camera for video calls or self portraits. The bluetooth capability is also easy to use with the various support - Headset, Handsfree, serial port, dial up, file transfer and object push.

We took a number of shots using the built in 1.3mpixel camera and it seems to turn out well. The photos colour saturation is good and image is sharp. Night shots are clean without the bluish dots. I am impressed by the fact that the camera allows you to set your own ISO100,200,400 settings which will definitely improve the quality of images taken under dim light. With the video capability, you can also record clips and transfer and share it with friends.

Something I feel that should not been left out is a radio. Ringtones wise, the phone supports MMF and MP3 ringtones. MMF ringtones are loud and MP3 ringtones seems to be on the soft side. I created some AAC files with extension of M4A. The phone just rejects the extension. I have to rename it as .3GP before it can be sent in and play backed correctly using the built in mediaplayer tool.

The battery life is a bit short as it seems to be warm after using it for video calls. As the screen is smaller than the existing 3G phones out there, video playback through video streaming or 3GP files is still viewable on a smaller screen.

Pricing Info

Pros :

• 262K colors

• Picture and Video Quality is Good

• JAVA, MMS, GPRS, Bluetooth, IrDA

Cons :

• No Radio

• Small Screen

• Battery life a bit short

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