Camera Phones Plaza

Gadgetim showed us the first pictures of the new Samsung Z720.

This new model from Samsung is somehow similar to the Ultra Edition 15.9, but the difference is made by it's features, like GSM / UMTS / HSDPA, Bluetooth 2.0, a 2-inch QVGA display, and microSD slot

The Samsung Z720 also has a very interesting 3 megapixel camera with autofocus and a front SVGA camera for video calls.

It may look like every other Samsung slider, but the new Z400 will delight fans of the D500 and D600 with its 3G speeds and new-look silver finish. But will it impress us?

Another Samsung, another slider, another day. Perhaps the malaise emanating from 3G is a bit harsh, but one look at the new Z400 and our hearts sink.

3g has a review of this phone and here are some of their impressions: After the delicious touch-sensitive E900 and the slimline D800 we were hoping that Samsung had broken from its creative straitjacket. But for the Z400, the Korean manufacturer has reverted to type, still hawking the ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ design ethos we’ve seen on umpteen Samsung sliders before – the E800, D500, D600, E370, the Z320i… the list goes on. It’s a shame Samsung couldn’t conjure up a fresh approach.

Unlike the D600, the camera is perched on the inside of the front fascia instead of the far back cover. Samsung has clearly learnt from its mistakes regarding the lens position on the D600. This handling faux pas saw your finger frequently flirt with the lens but there are no such worries with the Samsung Z400.

Unfortunately, the two-megapixel camera is unsophisticated compared to fellow competitors. There is no auto-focus or flash on the Z400 but considering the restrictions, the pictures appear respectable for this level, displaying true colour representation and strong focus. Understandably, without the flash, it does struggle in low light but you can manually set the ISO light sensitivity setting to compensate. The higher settings (400 and 800) are ideal for indoor environments while we advise 200 for overcast conditions.

Despite video calling becoming something of a marginal activity, the front camera allows two-way chats. We made a call to an LG U890 and found the conversation quality mixed. Symptoms included digital drag and some choppy buffering – but you could still hold a conversation providing you used the supplied headphones to hear the other person’s voice.

Look beyond the lack of originality in the design and you’re still faced with another decent Samsung handset that’s poised to challenge similar 3G tinkers like Sony Ericsson’s K610i and V630i and Nokia’s 6280. It may hit the buffers when it comes to digital music playback but its other attributes more than revive its chances, making it a very capable 3G practitioner.

Read full review on 3g.co.uk.

Samsung SPH-M610 or Ultra Edition 9.9 has been announced for the Sprint network. It looks like Samsung’s SPH-M610 for Sprint is the CDMA version of the 9.9mm thin D830.

The clamshell handset, also known as Ultra Edition 9.9 is said to be EV-DO capable, featuring 2 megapixel swiveling camera, internal QVGA display and external OLED one, TransFlash memory expansion slot and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR with A2DP profile support.

No word on pricing and release date yet.

Via phonearena.

Now I have the Samsung SGH-E900 in my hands. This is another slider and it shares quite a few features with the SGH-D600 such as a 2-megapixel camera and 80MB of built in memory. But of course the SGH-E900 is not a clone of the earlier handset.

Now, I am quite a fan of the slider format. It is ideal for phones designed to be small in the pocket and a good slider lets you do pretty much everything except number dial calls and write SMS messages without using the slider mechanism.

On the size front the SGH-E900 is not quite as small as I’d like at 90 x 45 x 16.5mm, but it is certainly smaller than candy bar handsets. It is light too, at just 93g.

The slider mechanism is superb. Spring loaded, it takes just a slight push or pull to open and close the handset.

The only button on the front fascia is the navigation key. Samsung has used a touch sensitive panel for the rest of the front features. There is no doubting this makes for a very clean design. The front of the handset is sleek, shiny black punctuated by a silver frame around the navigation button, silver central select button, silver Samsung branding and small silver flash under the speaker at the head of the handset.


When you turn the SGH-E900 on its 240 x 320 pixel, 262,000 colour screen is beautifully clear and bright. I can’t complain about the backlight for the touch sensitive area either – the low-light white that pops up when buttons are available is subtle and stylish. I also really like that the three music playback controls (pause/play, forward and back) are only lit up and available when you run the music player.

But touch sensitive buttons just aren’t my thing. Tactile buttons are easy to find without looking too hard for them, and there is a physical response to indicate that you have actually pressed something. The touch-sensitive approach left me often needing to look at the SGH-E900 to be sure I pressed the right area for the action I required. I felt the same when reviewing LG’s revolutionary Chocolate KG800 phone, which also has a touch based interface.

The camera, whose lens is on the back of the casing and invisible unless you open the slider, takes a while to get going after you press its shortcut button, and there is a noticeable shutter lag which means you need to hold the phone still for a second or so after pressing to shoot an image. This will be annoying if you like candid snaps and you’ll get some image blurring if you are not careful.

I wanted to like the Samsung SGH-E900 a lot, having been wowed by the Samsung SGH-D600, but sadly that was not to be. There are some good points, not least its small overall size, light weight and the comprehensive PC connectivity, but the camera is disappointing and overall this handset is hamstrung by the touch based system used on the front fascia.

Read full review here.

Cingular has launched its second HSDPA compatible handset, the Samsung SGH-ZX20, an upgrade to the already successful SGH-ZX10 that also adds Bluetooth to the small clamshell handset. Jointing the LG CU500 on Cingular's HSDPA roster, the Samsung SGH-ZX20 has some impressive features in its small design.

The Samsung SGH-ZX20 is a quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz) device, and also supports WCDMA 3G services over the 850 and 1900MHz bands. With a maximum downstream data rate of 1.8Mbps over HSDPA, the Samsung SGH-ZX20 features a swiveling 1.3 megapixel camera with flash and a generous 40MB of on board memory, in addition to a microSD memory expansion slot, for storing all your files. Speakerphone functionality is included, and a full music player and streaming video support round out the Samsung SGH-ZX20's specification sheet.

The Samsung SGH-ZX20 is available now through Cingular for US$199.99 after applicable discounts and rebates.

Via mobileburn.