Excellent compact mobile phone with a solid feature set
Written: Apr 24 '05
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Pros: Small for a flip phone, dual LCD displays, sturdy, easy to use interface, includes headset
Cons: Battery rated for only three hours of talk time
The Bottom Line: I’ve come away very impressed with the Samsung x475. The unit looks great, feels sturdy, and has a very intuitive user interface. Call quality is also excellent.
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| KarsinTheHutt's Full Review: Samsung SGH-x475 |
I recently switched my phone service to T-Mobile, and along with the new service plan came a new mobile phone, the Samsung x475. The x475 normally costs $119, but T-Mobile was running a promotion and the phone was free. Having had the opportunity to use the x475, I believe it is an excellent mobile phone with a solid set of features.
Here are the specifications from Samsung’s website:
Dimensions: 3.39" x 1.81" x .89"
Weight: 3.1 oz.
Continuous digital talk time: Up to 4 hours*
Standby Time: Up to 200 hours*
Color: Silver and blue
Main Display: 128 x 160 pixel, 65K UFB color display
External Display: 96 x 64 pixel, black & white display
Mode: GSM dual band (900/1900 MHz digital)
Wireless Protocol: GSM
What’s in the Box?
Opening the retail box, I found the x475 telephone, an AC charger, some sort of converter for the charger, and an earphone set. Also included were printed manuals in both English and Spanish, as well as a quick-start guide. I was pretty happy that Samsung provided an earphone set, as I wasn’t sure whether the one I’d purchased for my old Nokia phone would work.
Physical appearance and build quality:
The design of the x475 is striking, and the first thing I noticed about it was its compact elegance. The x457 is oval shaped and silver with blue accents. There are no external antennas or other protrusions, making the phone very comfortable to hold in the palm of my hand. Exterior ports (earphones and AC plug) have their own little hatches that are connected to the phone. While this makes the exterior smooth, the hatches look like they could break off eventually if one isn’t careful. An external monochrome LCD sits in the face of the x475, and displays signal quality, ring tone mode (ring or vibrate), battery capacity (0 to 3 bars), messages or missed calls, time, and date. There’s also a small light that blinks when there’s call activity. I like the external LCD because I can check the time and check for messages without having to open up the phone.
The phone is just as elegant when flipped open. The top portion of the x475 contains a crystal clear color LCD and speaker, and the lower portion contains a numeric keypad as well as a set of buttons for manipulating the user interface. The color LCD is very nice and shows all the same things that the external LCD shows, in addition to the user interface. The interface buttons include a directional pad, enter button, clear button, and two buttons whose functions vary depending on the program or menu currently displayed. There are also call and hang up buttons. All the keys are backlit and glow a pleasant blue color (though call glows green, and hang up glows red). Whether opened or closed, the x475 is very attractive.
The x475 is pretty, but it is also sturdy. A single robust hinge connects the top and bottom halves of the unit. There is no flexing or flimsy feel to the assembly, unlike less expensive flip phones, and the plastic outer shell feels very solid. The back of the unit consists of a blue battery that blends seamlessly into the back of the phone and provides additional rigidity. This is a phone that I am fairly sure will not fall apart on me.
Interface and Use:
The first thing I did when I got my x475 was transfer all the telephone numbers from my old Nokia to the x475. I didn’t know much about the x475’s interface, but I found the menus and programs very intuitive. From the opening screen, one can access the phone number list, phone book application, and the main applications menu. Using the phone book application, I manually entered my phone number list. The keys and buttons are small but not hard to use, and provide ample feedback. Next, I went to the main applications menu and set up my ring tone, LCD brightness settings, power management, and voice mail. Again, I was impressed with the intuitiveness of the applications.
Having set everything up, it was time to make a few phone calls. Both LCD displays show the signal strength to the phone carrier on a 6-bar graph. At 6 bars, call quality was excellent. The speaker on the phone is much better than my old phone. I also tried out the earphones and was similarly pleased with their performance.
There are a few features that I haven’t gotten around to testing. The x475 has support for AOL Instant Messenger and text messaging, though additional fees apply (I think it’s $0.05 per message, and I don’t want that to add up). There is also support for browsing on the web, though again I haven’t checked the fee schedule. I wanted the phone simply for voice communications, but from fooling around with the menus it is clearly capable of a lot more than that. There’s also the standard calendar, calculator, and games software, though I have little use for such things.
My only criticism of the x475 is that it has a small battery rated for only 3 hours of talk time (Samsung says 4 hours, T-Mobile says 3 hours, but the battery graph has 3 bars, so I’m guessing its realistically closer to 3 hours). My old Nokia had 5 hours of talk time, but it was also about 35% larger than the x475.
Conclusion:
I’ve come away very impressed with the Samsung x475. The unit looks great, feels sturdy, and has a very intuitive user interface. The dual displays are clear and display useful information. Call quality and speakers are good quality. Battery life, while not great, is acceptable, given the compactness of the phone. Overall, the Samsung x475 is an excellent choice for a basic mobile phone.
Recommended:
Yes
Recommended for: Stylish Trendsetters - Hip and Trendy
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Epinions.com ID:
KarsinTheHutt
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Member: Karsin Eng
Location: United States of America
Reviews written: 83
Trusted by: 19 members
About Me:
I am a part time computer hobbyist and moderator at forum.thinkpads.com
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