A jaw-dropping ‘Wow!’ was my first impression on Samsung SGH-E530. And it never fails to elicit the same reaction to whoever sees this small wonder. With its compact size, shape and color, this phone is very pretty. The unit I reviewed was lavender pink but it has 4 other colors in case you are not after a ‘pretty phone’. There is an external display about a size of a 1x1 photo and a built–in camera with flash. Once again, I am impressed on how Samsung ‘hides’ the charging and earphone ports which makes the entirety neat. However, the battery of SGH-E530 is also one of its kind (which seems to be a common characteristic of Samsung phones), and it makes me wonder how if the battery goes wrong in the future.
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| The SAMSUNG SGH-E530. | |
Anyhow, wait till you open the clam-shell designed phone for there are still nice things to look at inside. The window display is almost the size of a passport ID photo. Although it has 22 keys on the silver pad, they are ‘neatly’ in place and well spaced. My father had the chance to use the phone and with fingers as big as he has, he still finds the keypad easy to operate (except the navigation keys, which are a little closer to one another). But still, the phone is comfortable to hold and has just the right angle from the mouth to ear piece when making a call.
Get connected
With a Phonebook that allows 1000 entries (whether it be numbers, e-mail addresses or websites), the user can make a call or send text or multimedia messages. Samsung SGH-E530 also has an instant key to connect to the Internet. As usual, there was a list of Missed, Dialled and Received calls but I find the Call cost device the most useful. Its counter can be programmed to the currency the user has, the price per call, then see how the last call made costs. It also supports call barring, diverting, waiting and voice mail provided that the Network services was activated.
I was also able to compose an e-mail with attachments such as picture, music and sound clips, but the video was not allowed to be attached for the file was too big it says.
Hot songs
My favorite attribute of Samsung SGH-E530, is the MP3 player! But alas, the package I got has no USB connector. Aside from that, my favorite cell phone store has no idea how of which USB to use. Seemingly, I almost wished for an FM radio but thanks to Bluetooth connection that enabled me to send a friends playlist into my gadget. I noticed too that this phone values protection for the password has to be input on both phones before the transferring files.
The MP3 feature has an equalizer where I was able to choose whether to play it normal, classical, rock or jazz. There are 3 skins to choose from too. Since I only borrowed a friends playlist, the idea is to only play my favorite song. This is where the play mode came in handy for me, repeating Tell Me Where it Hurts till my neighbors ear hurts. But I can only play the music while the clam-shell phone is open so my only option is to let Samsung SGH-E530 lie on my desk and just use the earpiece that was provided. I was not also able to operate the other functions of the phone while the music is currently playing.
If the MP3 is frequently played, with breaks in sending messages and making a call, Samsung SGH-E530 can last more or less for 12 hours with an hour and a half time for charging.
Enhanced
Having a megapixel camera, 262144 color screen and 176x220 pixels, Samsung SGH-E530 is better than its contemporaries. The camera may not have an image editor but it has a variety of frames to choose from and I enjoyed the shooting mode. Taking pictures is made interesting especially when I really had to capture moment by moment up to 15 takes in the multi shot mode. Mossaic shot, on the other hand, lets all 9 pictures to be in one frame. I was also able to take pictures with effects from gray to negative, sepia, emboss, antique and fog. So far, I like the moonlight effect, having bluish shade on images. But these features cannot be utilized when I am taking my own photo with the aid of the front display window. Furthermore, there was an instant key on the side of the phone to take pictures through the front display window. The images taken or downloaded from the internet can be placed upon the cover and main displays as wallpaper or as caller ID.
The video recording is also made better, having voice input and can be more than 5 minutes. The mic piece is conspicuously on the right side of the phone. All images, video, music and sounds are safely secured at the File Organizer. Samsung SGH-E530 can store up to 81,920 KB fairly a large library especially if pictures taken were 1024x768 big.
Never to forget are the Java downloaded games, where Bobby Carrot left me challenged for a time being. Up to 4,096 KB is allowed to be installed on Samsung SGH-E530. Also equipped with an Organizer, Alarms, World time and the likes. The phone also allows PIM synchronization where the users can install the phones variables on the personal computer, but I failed to take advantage of this feature.
Having in mind the picture of performance, this latest addition in the Samsung SGH series is definitely on its way to perfection. With Samsung SGH-E530’s sense and style, connectivity, mp3 and enhancements, I can say that it’s a mobile phone you’ll carry with pride.
