Camera Phones Plaza

It seems like Samsung is still rebranding and repositioning every phone in their portfolio. It's not just the camera phone orientated, or multimedia phones, or even the business phones that are getting a rebranding over the limit. It's quite clear that Samsung is mostly trying to put on the market some brand new lines. And yes, some of these lines do contain products with the same overview but different feature approach and distinctive price tag.

On a previous occasion I wrote about the Samsung entry level audio orientated phone, which delivered under average and average performances for a small price tag. There were two sliders and one clamshell. These three phones were announced in June this summer, and released two months later in August. However, Samsung didn't release the "M" line for cheap music orientated phones.


The first of its kind was released this year in February and by know it still the proud owner of an excellent design. The Samsung M7603 or Samsung M7600 Beat DJ also known as Samsung Platine includes an excellent design. Although, it clear that packs the same strange colors found on the three cheaper models, the M7600 Beat DJ looks more attractive and successfully integrates several designs, because at a first glance you can't really understand that this is a phone. It might look like jewelry, or a mobile game platform, but M7600 Beat DJ is at its core a mobile phone.

Beside the unique design, the Samsung Platine also sports other key features such as the WQVGA AMOLED touch screen display, 3.2 megapixel digital camera, 8 GB memory card included in the retail package, GPS receiver, 3.5 mm audio jack, Office document viewing, and excellent music player. Even so, this Samsung model also includes several main disadvantages, such as the slightly slow interface, and no full keyboard either mechanical or digital on screen.

With the new M7600 Beat DJ Samsung is trying to improve its music line, and this phone might just be a strong competitor for that matter of fact. Samsung M7600 Beat DJ can easily fight Sony Ericsson Walkman phone models and Nokia Xpress Music phone models. Even so, it is impossible for the Platine to be compared with the iPhone (especially the 3GS model), or the new X6 from Nokia which is certainly a new instance in this game. Even if, the M7600 Beat DJ sports an excellent design, the materials used in the build are all plastic. These plastics are painted in three different colors (the M line colors). However, Samsung included in this design nice finishes like the metallic frame and the glossy surface that surrounds the touch screen display. So, the metallic frame with black glossy cover and dark grey with vibrant violet might be something that only a few users are looking phone.



Again, Samsung is not conservative at all and included in the market a strange looking with strange colors phone. I am just going to say it. It frustrating not to know which the bottom side is and which is the top side of this phone. You probably have to look on the back cover to see where the camera lens is to understand how you should hold this phone. Even so, above the display you get the small earpiece and the ambient light sensor. Beside these two elements, Samsung also included a second digital camera for enabling the video calls. Below the display you will find a dark grey looking line. Believe it or not that line actually contains both the call key, the end call key, and centered between them the back key.

Unfortunately a point in minus is the fact that these keys are not visible at all. Even more frustrating is that between this keys line and the display you get the virtual keys for controlling the music. Not even these keys are noticeable. Better read the user manual before starting to use the M7600 Beat DJ. On the left side of the phone you get the volume controls, the lock display switch and the micro USB port which is covered by a purple plastic (what else). On the other side you can easily find the memory card slot (micro SD), and the special camera key. On the top, Samsung added the 3.5 mm audio jack, also covered by a purple plastic cap, while on the bottom you get the stereo speakers. Everything with this phone is symmetrical.

If you enjoy geometric figures and element like median and other special features then this phone might just surprise you day by day with something new. On the upper center of the M7600 Beat DJ you get the 3.2 megapixel digital camera lenses with a dual LED flash. Overall, if we let the design apart, this phone is extremely well built, and it proudly caries on the Samsung quality build. Samsung M7600 Beat DJ runs in 2 G network - GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 and in the 3G networks UMTS 900 / 2100. Because of its dimensions, this phone doesn't sport a 3 inches display. With a height of 112 mm, wide of 51 mm, deep of 13.9 mm, the M7600 Beat DJ weight about 99.7 grams.

Samsung included in this phone an 2.8 inches AMOLED capacitive touch screen with a maximum resolution of 16 million colors and a resolution of 240 x 400 pixels and an included accelerometer sensor for a better usability.  The display is great, offers vibrant colors, and it delivers good brightness even in direct sun contact. Samsung included in this phone about 50 MB onboard (small unit for a music oriented phone). Therefore, the memory card was necessary to be part of the retail box. The Platine is compatible with micro SD memory cards (Trans Flash memory cards) up to 16 GB. The connectivity is ensured by the BPRS Class 10 with 4+1 / 3+2 with a various speed starting from 32 Kb per second to 48 Kb per second, HSCSD, Class 10 EDGE with a maximum speed of 236.8 Kb per second, version 2.0 micro USB connectivity, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, and HSDPA.

However, this phone lacks Wi-Fi. Therefore, it lacks a full connectivity package. The digital camera included has a value of 3.15 megapixels and can take pictures with a maximum resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels. It sports auto focus, LED flash, face and smile detection and Geo tagging. Although this camera is not state of the art, these features with the quality pictures taken provide excellent user experience. You can also use this camera to record some videos in VGA mode with 15 frames per second.

The Touch Wiz interface is good. The phone works not extremely fast, but it does the job in optimal time. This interface it is fully customizable. Also the operating system includes excellent features such as the media player, the Office document reader, the organizer, calendar, phone book and many others. Samsung included in this phone a rather small battery for a touch screen device, a Lithium Ion with 960 mAh, which should provide about 400 hours of standby time in 2G networks and 300 hours of standby time in 3G networks.

Also, the talk time vary from 7 hours in the 2G network to 4 hours and 30 minutes in the 3G network. For an average user these values mean about 3 days of battery autonomy. In the retail box, Samsung added beside the phone and battery, the charger, the 3.5 mm headset with remote, the CD software, the USB cable, and the 8 GB memory card. Overall, the M7600 Beat DJ is a solid phone with a nice retail box. Probably the decision factor over to buy it or not will remain the "love it or hate it" design, which is found on every phone in the "M" line from Samsung.