| Product: |
Samsung GT i8510 Innov8 |
| Date: |
28/07/09 (15 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: The sexy look, picture, sound quality, and buttons! A good thing!
Disadvantages: The Samsung curse.
I purchased my Samsung Innov8 round about the time all of my mates were getting the Nokia N95.I was attracted to its suave sleeker qualities; it was less chunky and looked better when you pulled it out of your pocket and flashed it around the pub. It was certainly much better than my previous Nokia something or other that resembled a brick, which I had been using after losing my beloved Samsung D900!
After taking this piece of carefully carved architecture out of its box, slamming in the SIM card, and eagerly turning it on, my first thoughts on the beautiful object were; "It does far more than just send black and white text messages and make phone calls in bad quality, so that swung it for me. It was literally "The Samsung's version of the Nokia N95", that was good enough!
The Samsung Curse: Unfortunately for me, I have never owned a piece of Samsung technology for longer than about 4 months. For some reason, I have always managed to lose damage or break each one I have ever had within this time. I was left so utterly bereaved after losing my beloved E550 that I think I may have actually been left scarred for the rest of my phone purchasing life. I got the E550 after I lost my lovely Motorola V220 which seemed to go on forever until I ran in torrential rain once, and after surviving its first drowning I gave it prior to that, it gave up the ghost and completely conked out. The E550 was more than an apt replacement for the V220, for the while that I had it. My friend still has hers now, and how I miss that thing! Anyway, I "then" lost the D900 there on after, and my 8MP Samsung camera my fiancé bought me on the top of Wornside whilst trudging on the Three Yorkshire Peaks. Despite all this kerfuffle, I got my next Samsung phone regardless and then, probably stupidly as I thought what an idiot I really must be for not doing so, didn't take out insurance. I haven't been lucky with this one either. Firstly, one time someone else I didn't know picked it up mistaking it for their own phone and managed to get it home. They were so slow about giving it back that I nearly went into CompEXchange (CEX) in town to buy a new one, but I bugged them for weeks and my phone was eventually returned. The relief I felt to have the thing back in my hands again was like being sent to heaven rather than hell in the afterlife. I was wiping the sweat from my brow and put it straight back on charge when I got back home. (Phew!)
Bad points: One thing I really didn't know about Samsung's until recently was that the chip inside the phone (like most modern appliances, TV's and the like), is that after a while they decide to just die on you and finish up doing bugger all. Not quite so long ago I sent my Samsung phone back to Samsung to have the earphone piece fixed and to get the picture back on my screen. I was one day I was having a particularly bad time. I was due to go to an interview and my car battery was flat, and I was in the middle of ringing my fiancé due to the emergency, when the ear piece cut out. As well as being utterly stressed from the whole experience, I also couldn't hear a thing down my phone. I was pretty devastated that I was carless and phoneless all at the same time but more so I was also interview less because I couldn't get there. I' not disputing that obviously I was not meant to get to the interview in the first place, the Gods seemed to have other idea's, but this was highly frustrating and it took me ages before I worked out I could use the Speakerphone to make calls instead. This wasn't so bad, but a little inconvenient. I didn't bother getting it fixed. Meh, what's the point? It was all right, it worked better than all my other now non existent Samsung's and at least I still had the thing in my possession better than I'd achieved in the past. Well it wasn't long before one day the thing had been on charge so it had plenty of battery life, and I needed to know the time so I pulled it out of my pocket and bham, no screen. What? Well I was fully destroyed this time so got the Warrantee and took the thing back down to where I purchased it at the Carphone Warehouse. I could write a review about those guys too, they were so utterly helpful. Either they have had the same problem with these phones so many times, or maybe with today's phones just in general or whatever, they were quick to log and send it, and thanks to the and Samsung, I had it back in my clutches in a matter of days (for the second time!) I have a feeling that they may have just replaced a chip in the circuit board with a new one, and I a now hoping this one will last till the end of my contract... we will see!
Good points: The rest of this phone however! Is fabulous! It takes a lot of playing with to find all the bits and pieces which are hidden in the settings but you can have your own ring tones and "message tones" which you couldn't get with all the other Samsung's. It could be improved by having some sort of "locking" button so the little buttons for the camera on the outside don't get pressed in your bag or pocket, but I think this is true of a lot of today's phones. The sound quality is far superior to some Sony Ericsson's I have experienced and the camera folds up so neat and tidy, it's almost better than the one my Fiancé bought me for my birthday that got broke. I will not go so far as to say it is better, any normal camera will always have more settings than a phone camera and better picture quality, but as far as phone's go, and camera's go, I am no professional photographer and don't care for the best of the best in that sector, but this one does me fine. I can see the photo's clearly enough and it's all about the memories so if you're like me it's all groovy. Lastly but not leastly, it's all buttons, rwahhhhh!! Hurray!! I hate these touch screens, they're rubbish! I will never get one of those and these days that what Samsung seem to be pumping out off the production factory, touch screen and those little pencil's you always lose. Meh, no me at all. This one is great for its purpose.
Overall: If you purchase a Samsung, don't ever be fooled, you will also purchase the Samsung curse with it. I will not say that after my fourth product I have effectively broken it for me because this thing will probably strike back and bite me in the butt, but I love these things. They are sexy, suave and absolutely fabulous!! You will be enchanted, not disappointed.
Summary: An enchanting phone, not necessarily great but wantable!
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