Slim design, balanced features

Aug 27, 2007 10:41 GMT  ·  By

Samsung has been battling Motorola over the years for the number 2 spot on mobile phones sales and 2007 will be known as the year of victory for the Asian company. While the first place in handsets sales has been for long entitled to Nokia with no chance of being replaced, there has always been a fight for the second place. Samsung's invasion of low-cost and moderately priced mobiles decisively overtook Motorola's sales, thus making it the number 2 mobile manufacturer in the world. Even in North America ? where Motorola still has the upper hand ? Samsung started to compete with it by offering a whole range of CDMA handsets, exactly the field where Motorola almost doesn't exist. Samsung SGH-E200 is a moderately-priced handset that surely contributed to the above achievement.

Announced in the Q1 2007, Samsung SGH-E200 has been made available on the market in April 2007 for a medium price of 170 ? 200 Euros, depending on location.

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Design

Samsung SGH-E200 is remarkably slim and features a stylish candy-bar form. Remember the old Samsung X120? This seems to be an updated version of the X120 with new features and better looks. The phone has a simple and compact construction and offers great functionality. Whether you keep it in your hand or in your pocket, the phone fits perfectly and seems to have the right measures for both cases. Just under the 10 mm barrier, E200 handset measures 108 x 45 x 9.9mm and weighs only 90 grams (including battery).

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The compound used doesn't give users the impression of a cheap material; on the contrary, it feels rich and practical (doesn't catch fingerprints). The slim form still permitted the Korean company to include a microSD card slot for memory expansion on the right side of the phone. The dual volume key has been placed opposite, on the left side just under the USB slot, that can also be used for charging purposes or to attach any compatible headset. The 1.3 Megapixel camera on the back of the phone enables users to capture snapshots or record clips anytime they're on the move. The keypad is easy to handle and looks simple and nice. The design of the handset is characterized by slimness and simplicity. It seems that this is what most people are looking for these days, and Samsung understood that at the right time and now gathers the fruits of its labor.

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Display and Camera

The TFT screen of Samsung E200 supports 65k colors and 176 x 220 pixels resolution. This is more than enough for such a phone and if you think that it should support 262k, well? let me remind you that Samsung is the best LCD displays manufacturer. For its size, the screen amazes through colors contrast and brightness. Even if it scored only 1552 points compared to Samsung's U100 which scored 1946 points when tested with Java benchmark for MIDP 1.0, be sure that the display will suit every user?s needs. Unlike the U100 model, this handset doesn't have any features regarding Sunlight mode, so it's a little bit difficult to use its display in sunlight.

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The "unfortunate" 1.3 Megapixel camera on the back of the phone features 4x digital zoom and self-portrait mirror. This is one of the crappiest 1.3 MP camera modules and it surely amazes me why Samsung didn't include at least a mediocre one. The maximum resolution that you can use to take snapshots is 1280 x 1024 pixels. This resolution will get your pictures sized to no more than 300 KB, so you probably won't be able to store too many photos in the phone's memory. Pictures lack contrast, the colors are dull and noisy.

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Clips can be recorded in .MP4 format with a maximum resolution of 176 x 144 pixels. Unfortunately, the size of the clips is limited to the phone's memory because the software doesn't let you save clips on a memory card. Overall, this module camera is one of the lowest and fails to attune itself to the rest of the phone?s components which are above average.

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Menu and Software

The usual Samsung menu has been embedded in the E200 model also, but the software may lack some important features. There are many people wondering if you can attach MP3 ring tones to different contacts in your phonebook. Well, the answer is "yes" and "no". "Yes", you can, but the MP3 file must be stored in the phone's memory, "no" you can't if you store your MP3 files on your storage card. Another strange feature is the "inability" to run the MP3 player in the background, although the FM radio can run in the background with no problems. You can store up to 1000 contacts in your phonebook and the SMS messages are only limited by the internal memory. There is a whole range of pre-installed applications frequently used in any handset: World clock, Alarm, Calendar, Memo, Converter and Calculator. Extra-settings include features like: Auto redial, Anykey answer, Voice clarity and Auto keypad lock.

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Unfortunately, the latter cannot be set to any time you want, the feature is simply there so you can check and use it or leave it unchecked, but then you'll have to lock your keypad manually. During calls, you can use the menu to access the Voice recorder and can record up to 1 hour of conversation. The Image editor included is almost useless as the pictures taken are beyond any possibility of retouching. Also, you can install any Java compatible third-party applications, as the handset includes a Java Midlet emulator, but it might not run all Java software. The browser of the phone is limited to WAP pages and cannot be used to open big sized web pages. That's a pity and it means that you won't have any freedom in surfing the Internet. The software embedded has few flaws that can easily be corrected by Samsung, but overall, it's a speedy one that will certainly make every user content with the phone.

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Communication

Samsung SGH-E200 is limited to GRPS Class 10 or EDGE Class 10 connectivity, which should be more than enough for a handset in its class. Despite the low quality browser integrated, users will still be able to make data transfers with up to 57 Kbps download and up to 18 Kbps upload using EDGE technology. Surprisingly enough, the phone supports Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP and can easily make Bluetooth data transfers with up to 105 KB/s, which is above average. You can even use the Bluetooth connection to print out any of the pictures taken. To synchronize the phone you have to choose first between the Modem mode and Mass storage mode. There is no included software in the sales package but you can download Samsung's PC Studio which will help you to synchronize your handset. Messaging capabilities are unlimited and the phone features full support for email client, which can easily handle POP3, IMAP4 and SMTP.

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The tri-band (GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900) network compatible handset has an average GSM signal reception. Sound is a little bit distorted and average when it comes to loudness.

Processor and Memory

E200 handset features a medium ARM9 family processor running at up to 140 MHz. Compared with the 88 MHz CPU embedded in the latest U100 model, this processor seems more powerful. You will notice that the moment you start using Samsung E200. Furthermore, the handset offers a good gaming experience even with the small display that supports only 65k colors.

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Unfortunately, the handset only features 10 MB shared memory, which is not enough for the MP3 files that you?ll want to use as ring tones. Even if there's a microSD slot card that will help users expand the storage space up to 2 GB, bear in mind that MP3 files cannot be set as ring tones if they're on the memory card. Moreover, the snapshots taken will also diminish the little storage space you have at your disposal.

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Multimedia

Don't overestimate Samsung's E200 sound experience, as this is rather mediocre. Even so, let's not forget that this is a mid-level handset, which is not meant to be used as a heavy MP3 player. The phone integrates a basic music player that features Equalizer, Shuffle option and Visualization effects. You can listen to any of the MP3, AAC, AAC+ file formats, but you won't be able to use the music player in the background.

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As I have stated above, the sound is mediocre and will probably compel you to use the FM radio instead. The latter, unlike the music player, can be used in the background. Furthermore, the phone doesn't have any external speakers integrated, so you'll be forced to use the in-call speaker whenever you wish to listen to music without any headset. Don't be scared by the quality of the multimedia experience, as this phone can do much better in many other areas.

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Battery

This is the place where Samsung has to work hard. Even if their handsets are very slim, and thus the batteries too, life expectancy of the latter needs to be improved. The slim 800 mAh Li-Ion battery of the SGH-E200 model has a stated autonomy of 3 hours and 30 minutes of talk time and 250 hours in standby mode. This is obviously exaggerated as I've been forced to charge the handset every 2-3 days with barely 1 hour of talking and about 10-15 minutes of data transfers (Bluetooth or Internet). Perhaps for someone that doesn't talk too much on the phone this could be a good choice, but otherwise you'll have to charge it frequently.

Impressions

Again, Samsung manufactures a solid, compact phone that targets mid-level users, who are looking for a simple phone. Even if candy-bar phones may be "boring" sometimes, through their design, I assure you that this is not the case with Samsung's E200. If you're looking for a slim, sturdy and cheap phone that also features camera and music player capabilities, than this could be a wise choice.

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The Good

The first thing that attracts people?s attention when choosing a phone is the design and Samsung made it clear that they understood that by developing exquisite handsets. E200 is very balanced in features and offers a good deal for common phone users that are simply looking for a cheap good-looking phone. The presence of a microSD card could also attract buyers that also want to use the phone as an MP3 player or photo album.

The Bad

I guess Samsung should've integrated a better camera and I'm not talking about the number of Megapixels, but strictly about the module. It's good that the camera is there and that people can use it, but the pictures are simply awful. In addition, an improvement in battery life would be much appreciated, especially for those that want to use all E200's features (camera, phone capabilities, music player, FM radio). Some flaws in the software could also be corrected by a future updated firmware, but I wouldn't pin my hopes on it.

Sales package

Samsung SGH-E200 Battery Li-Ion 800 mAh Charger Stereo wired headset USB Cable User Guide

Photo: Tudor Raiciu for Softpedia.com