I am actually writing the review for X210. I have just been using it for a week and am pretty okay with
this phone.(No other choice though!)
PROS :
Good Slim and Sleek design which fits into your pocket like a T. Not like the common Bulky phones (Bricks Should I call em?!) available in the market. The finish is beautiful. It does not seem plasticky and there seems to a metallic gloss finish. There arent many colour options though.
Display : Display is a typical Samsung forte. The TFT display is very good for this price. Compared to a moto W220 , ericsson 300I, Nokia 6060, this is top class. The screen size is quite big and resolution is very good.
3 Reception : The reception and voice quality is another highlight . I am able to hear whispers from the other end! It is terrific (maybe equalling Nokia..or a wee bit lesser).I reserve my comments though as my phone is only a few days old..have to C it in the long run!
Radio : This is the only addition in feature from X200. The Radio is quite good I must say. It is Stereo and not Mono offered by Nokia in this price range
Battery Backup : The Battery is quite okay so far but like many color phones , have to be recharged every day for trouble free performance . I would like to mention here that for Battery backup nothing can beat a NOKIA ..PLUG IT, CHARGE IT AND FORGET IT!! Keeps Going ON AND ON FOR days .
Key Pad : It is very comfortable and easy to use. Mostly feather touch...But the Navigator keys in the center are a bit hard.
CONS :
SMS : It is quite difficult to toggle between T9 mode and "Aa" mode. You have to press a key 4 times to toggle.Special Symbols and number mode is sandwiched between these 2 options resulting in extra effort. Samsung could heve made this easier like NOKIA in which u can toggle with the press of a *.Also one irritating feature while deleting individual SMS is you have to view it first before deleting it. It is similar to the old Nokia 3315 in this regard. In Sony If the job is made easier as you have to press "C" button to delete already viewed msgs and u dont have to view it again to delete it.
Irritable Service Light : Each time a call or an SMS is received a blue light is triggered in the front. So it starts glowing thru your white pockets alerting everyone who sees you and not to mention the battery drain as a result of that. It also gives you a cheapy feel when you are all dressed in formal in a meeting with clients or your boss.The best part is you are not able to switch it off. I tried turning service light as "off". But it does not take effect.
Not able to silence a Call : In most of the phones you can silence an incoming call. When you do that the calling party hears the phone ringing but it will appear as if no one is picking up. This model misses this very useful feature. So I cant bluff to my irritable friends saying I was not at home . I have to pick it up , or on the face reject it which I cant do it, so most of the occassions I end up taking the call.
Small External Display in front : This could have been provided so as to display the calling party’s number.
PhoneBook Maneuverability : I have been a Nokia and ericsson user and compared to these, Samsung really lacks in Phone book search. You have to Go to Phonebook>Search and then search with the alphabets. In Nokia and Ericsson, the phone book appears on the press of Down Arrow Key.
No Location Display : Samsung does not seem to provide this feature . I had a C100 earlier and Location of the nearest tower cannot be displayed in the screen.
Ringtones : This is really sloppy. There are about 10 preset tones and I found only 2 to my liking. It also misses the animal sounds which were once provided in samsung phones. Also since there is no bluetooth or Infrared (Infrared is theoretically provided but I have not seen it working in any Samsung Model!!), I cant do anything about it. It has USB Cable support, but I dont have the patience to try it . I personally feel there is a 50 % chance of success (Now I am getting optimistic!).
My Verdict : I have been trying these entry level phones for some time now and I must say I am not getting the desired satisfaction. Each time its a compromise.Any make , Any model , these are crippled with some useful feature or the other. Best option is to go in for a monochrome basic utility phone costing about 2K or go for a very high end Phone costing above 10K. All these mid segment phones are Useless.I even had a Sony Ericsson K700I but it did not have memory enhancement features. So , what I am trying to get at is If you are a person like me who analyzes the features thread bare and want to derive the maximum satisfaction per rupee spent , then please go with my above mentioned formula.
DEALER SELECTION:
- Also , Please choose a good dealer. There are a lot of frauds happening in Cell Phone Market . I am from Chennai and there are a lot of dealers around. Even some of the so called standard dealers are engaging in exploiting the customer as follows:
(a) They have a hidden ageda to push a particular make and model so as to get dealer commission . So dont overly rely on these fellows. Before buying a cell Phone , do some ground work. Based on your budget see which will suit you. You can visit webpages, read reviews. Decide before you go to buy.Dont ever allow the dealer to coax you to buy a particular model.
(b)Be careful in Exchange Schemes . Even some very popular dealers exploit you to the core on this front . If they sense you are desperate for a new phone, that’s it , they will really quote a very low exchange price. When I went to exchange my 3 month old phone, he said it is worth only about 2000 ( Depreciation of about 50% per quarter seemed very high!). So decide whether you really want to sell your old dear phone.
(c) Pricing is extremely erratic. When I enquired different dealers in Chennai there was a difference in quotes upto Rs 1500. I dont know whether there is any MRP regulation for this.Theoretically, it works like a cattle or a fish market and it boils down to your bargaining capacity!
(d) Opening a new cell phone carton and tampering with Phone and spare parts inside and using it either for display or changing the spare parts with some old phone. After doing this it is re sealed properly like a new phone and sold to an innocent buyer who wont suspect it.I have seen it with my own eyes in a leading showroom in Chennai.
So thats abt it folks..Thanks for your reading!