Samsung SGH-d415: If Bells & Whistles Are Your Thing
Written: Dec 17 '04 (Updated Jan 11 '05)
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Pros: The screen is big and bee-yoo-tee-ful! Picture quality is surprisingly awesome for a cell phone.
Cons: To accomodate its large screen, the phone is not super-slim. The menu could be better.
The Bottom Line: The Samsung SGH-d415 is a fine phone. Whether you like this phone or not depends largely on whether you appreciate its unique design and high-quality visuals.
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| mashimaru's Full Review: Samsung SGH-d415 |
It was time for a new cell phone. I had been using a Sanyo 8100 (Sprint) for almost two years, and while it was a good phone (very durable), its battery power was seriously waning.
I decided to switch to T-Mobile, mostly because of the good prices on their plans, and the fact that they have one-year contracts. I could have gotten another Sprint phone, but I'd have to re-up for two years. Two years has begun to feel like a long time. The only other company that offers one-year contracts was Verizon, but T-Mobile had better prices for their plans.
So I browsed T-Mobile phones, and was instantly drawn to the Samsung SGH-d415 because it had a unique "slider" shape. Like in The Matrix! Neat. And when the store clerk turned it on, it began blinking rainbow colors and made melodious sounds. Awww, so pretty!
* Pros:
Screen:
The Samsung SGH-d415 has a beautiful screen. It's colorful, big, with a crisp display, and all around pretty to look at. 262,000 colors and very high-resolution. It is probably the best-looking screen available for phones of this type.
Camera - Still & Video:
The rotating camera lens is neat. But cameras on most flip phones are usually designed so that you can take your own picture by flipping it closed, so obviously the whole rotating feature is nothing special. But once again, it is an efficient design, and it looks cool. The camera also features a mandatory shutter noise, which I think is now required by law to prevent surreptitious snapping of peeping shots. (Thanks, perverts!) The camera also has a multi-shot feature, where you can hold the button down and take several shots in quick succession. Very cool.
The pictures I took with the Samsung SGH-d415 were excellent. My Sanyo 8100 was one of the first camera phones that were on the market, and as a result, the picture quality was pretty bad: fuzzy and blurry, and never an adequate substitute for an actual camera. Fun to use for photo caller-ID, but that was about it. But the pictures I took with the Samsung SGH-d415 can be taken with up to 640x480 resolution, and they were surprisingly clear and detailed in comparison. The colors were amazing. Everytime I e-mail a photo to someone, they remark on its surprising quality. Really not bad for a cell phone camera.
The Samsung SGH-d415 also records videos with sound, up to 15 sec. long. You can even send these videos, which can be viewed on the internet. T-Mobile will send a text message with the URL and a password to the recipient, so everyone with net access can view the video regardless of the type of phone/carrier they have. The quality of the video is not that great, of course - the resolution is not as good as the pictures - but it's a fun little thing to have on your phone.
Sound, Etc.:
Also, the phone sounds great during conversations, and I sound just fine to the people I talk to - which I guess is the most important thing for a phone. I have no complaints here.
It also performs everything else well - text messaging, POP access to e-mail, etc. I haven't used the WAP browser a lot, since you need to sign up for a T-Zones plan ($2.99 - 4.99/month) to surf the world wide web, which I didn't do. However, you can always access T-zones to buy ringtones and wallpapers, etc., so I've tried that, and again, the great colors and resolution make it a pleasure to surf the net on your cell.
* Cons:
OK?
Where is the OK button on this phone? There's a button in the middle of the four-way navigator which only works to access T-Zones (T-Mobile's WAP browser function), or it functions as an OK button only while using T-Zones.
I'm sure this is T-Mobile's way of encouraging people to sign up for T-Zones, but I think it's pretty dumb. People use their phones to surf, but they still use it for talking, don't they? Should the button smack in the middle of the phone be useless for the basic functions?
And because I get used to using the left button as the OK button during "normal" usage, I forget to use the center button when I'm actually in T-Zones, which just defeats the whole purpose, really.
This is just a silly idea.
Menu:
The menu isn't terribly intuitive either. For example, adding numbers to the phone book is strangely complicated. You can go into the phone book, but there isn't any simple way to get into "Add Entry" unless you press "C" (for "clear"). Why? The way this menu works is unnecessarily complicated and didn't make a lot of sense. And adding a number to an existing entry is strangely complicated, too.
Since I was switching over from Sprint, I did have to go through the chore of re-entering my entire phone book into my new phone. One easy way to do this is to log into My T-Mobile (at www.tmobile.com) which features a way to type in the numbers and it will be saved to your phone immediately. Unfortunately, entering phone numbers this way does not let you designate the numbers (such as "mobile," "home," "office") and just records them all as "mobile." And once again, the absence of an OK button makes even basic stuff as entering numbers more difficult than it has to be.
So generally, compared to my previous phone, which had a very easy-to-use menu despite no significant shortage of functions, I think the menu on this phone is badly designed. However, I'm not sure this is a Samsung thing so much as a Cell Provider thing - obviously, cell companies will tell their phone manufacturers how their menus should work. In the past, I've found various brands of Cingular phones just as complicated to use. And I've used a Samsung phone with Sprint, which wasn't as complicated. So I think this is definitely a T-Mobile thing.
But despite the not-so-easy-to-use menu, the menu display, again, is really pretty.
Misc. Stuff I Had to Get Used To:
The date & time on the Samsung phone doesn't sync with the network, so I had to set it myself. Wow, I don't think I've ever had a phone that didn't sync before (My Sprint Sanyo still syncs, and it doesn't even have service!), so when I first got the Samsung SGH-d415, I just kept staring at it waiting for it to sync. I guess this is only inconvenient when I travel to other time zones, or during Daylight Savings time changes, but still, it seems like such a basic function that cell phones should just have.
The Samsung SGH-d415 also doesn't have the option of simply turning the ringer off, while the phone remains on. If you need to silence your phone, you only have the option of putting it in vibrate mode, or turning it off completely. I guess again, this isn't a big deal, but I'm used to leaving my phone always on and simply turning the sound off from time to time.
Another option the Samsung SGH-d415 lacks is the option to have the vibrator on along with the ringer sound, which is too bad. Sometimes, I needed this extra jolt to slap me awake for an important phone call.
Ringtones, Wallpapers, Lights:
I haven't made my mind up yet about the Great Ringtone Debate: are goofy ringtones annoying, or do they bring a little joy into the mundane lives of everyone? There was that time my phone began blaring "Dancing Queen," and everyone around me began dancing along, and disappointedly shouted "Awww!" when I cut the fun short by answering my phone. And then there was that time my phone began to sing the Godfather theme at the grocery, and everyone around me stared with a smirk. In any case, I have gotten used to assigning specific songs to specific regular callers in my phone book. As a result, I will always have a Pavlovian response every time I hear the MIDI version of "Hotel California."
If you're into the plain-vanilla "Riiiiing!" sound, Samsung SGH-d415 does not have one. (I've heard Samsung phones typically don't.) I really think they should offer this option. Instead, you have a bunch of generic tunes that vary from cute to downright cacophonous.
And you can't assign a ringtone to individual entries - you can only assign them to groups. For example, you can put "Mom's" number in the "Family" group, and assign a song to the "Family" group. But "Mom" can't have her own special song.
The Samsung SGH-d415 comes with a bunch of fairly standard wallpapers: pictures of wind chimes, a rocking chair, Catherine Zeta-Jones, etc. The calendar wallpaper has a new picture for every month.
The Samsung SGH-d415 also has a "service light" which blinks all sorts of rainbow colors - you can even select the color scheme! But again, like with frou-frou ringtones, some people might find this annoying. You have the option of turning this off.
A Brief Note on T-Mobile:
This is the first time I've used a T-Mobile phone. I've expressed my displeasure at their badly designed menus and lack of beaming the correct time/date to their phones (which I'm not sure is T-Mobile's problem rather than the deficiency of this particular phone model, but I think it is.)
However, I do like the whole SIM card system of the GSM cellular networks (Cingular has this, too), which lets you switch phones by simply switching the SIM card.
I also enjoy text messaging, which was not so simple on Sprint (you have to log into the WAP browser each time, and that can take a while). If you don't buy a text message package, they cost $0.05 each, which isn't that much, depending on how often you send/receive them.
T-Mobile received a JD Power award last year for customer satisfaction. In any case, everyone's been super-nice whenever I've called with questions. So far, thumbs up for customer service.
And I've had no problems with reception: I've heard that if you live in an urban city, service is generally good no matter which provider you use. And in California, I heard T-Mobile uses Cingular's network (which just acquired AT&T), but I was also told that T-Mobile has their own network in CA which they supplement with roaming in Cingular, which I don't pay extra for. Not sure which is true. But I've used Cingular before, and thought their reception was fine. So, theoretically, I should have comparable service with T-Mobile. And it's been good so far.
* Conclusion:
The Samsung SGH-d415 is a fine phone. It doesn't have any extraordinary features that sets it apart from other camera phones at this level - those between the bare-bones talk-only model and the "smart" PDA phones that do everything for you but your laundry - but it does what it does quite well: sound good, check e-mail, surf web, and take/send pictures. Its strength is that the phone itself looks good: the big beautiful screen, and the unique slider shape. But there are some sacrifices made for the screen and shape - the phone itself is not the slimmest, and the keypad is smallish, and may frustrate those with big fingers.
I really like my Samsung SGH-d415. It's a good phone, especially if you appreciate its unique design, the fantastic screen, and the superior photos. And otherwise, it performs all the expected functions well. Two people I know decided to switch to T-Mobile just so they can buy this phone, after they saw mine.
But if you need the tiniest phone you can get, or don't care for the unusual "slider" shape, or don't need the highest resolution or color, then the Samsung SGH-d415 is probably not for you. Also, if you find melodious ringers or pretty rainbow blinks annoying, you can always turn them off. But if that's the case, why bother getting the Samsung SGH-d415?
So there is definitely an bells-n-whistles factor with the Samsung SGH-d415. It's designed to stand out from the crowd a bit and make people go oooh-n-aaah, while doing all the expected things very well. It won't do any new and exciting tricks, but it will sound good, and sure look pretty in your hand.
Final Note: Another thing I wanted to remind all potential buyers of new cell phones - in California, they've just adopted a new law: The Telecommunications Consumer Protection Bill of Rights, which, among other things, allows you to return/cancel a new cellular service within 30 days (as opposed to the standard 14 or 15). You should check to see whether this applies to you when you make your purchase.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 125
Recommended for: Stylish Trendsetters - Hip and Trendy
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Epinions.com ID:
mashimaru
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 in Electronics |
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Location: California
Reviews written: 116
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About Me:
"Heavy is the head that eats the crayons!"
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