Give me back my Nokia! (Samsung SGH-A300)

Member Name: charlieuk

Product:	Samsung SGH-A300
Date:	01/10/02 (265 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Looks good

Disadvantages: Battery life is short, Limited functionality, Badly designed interfaces

I 'bought' one of these around 3 months ago, just as Samsung had started giving them away for free with a contract. First impressions were good; the innovatively designed dual screen display makes for a very compact, quite flashy piece of kit. I walked out of the shop with a somewhat envious other half, who immediately wanted to swap for her Nokia 8210. I declined the trade, and anyway I could start playing with my new toy straight away as Samsung phones come with a precharged battery. Besides, I really didn't want the phone bill that would land if we did swap phones...

The phone is packaged with a spare battery, mains charger, and a hands free kit, all you need to have a happy relationship with your new mobile. A plus for Samsung here is that the cover is silver, and is not changeable. Kudos for not succumbing to the rather underhand strategy of selling the model in say, a somewhat distasteful orange, thus pushing the consumer into spending yet more money to make their phone look normal. Of course with all these 'themed' covers about, finding a plain one can sometimes be a bit of a challenge!

I read the manual, it looked easy enough, so I then needed to begin the task of entering a hundred or so numbers into the phone. I confess here that I cheated, and used a SIM card reader to transfer the data from my old mobile to my shiny new Samsung, so rather than wear out the buttons immediately, a couple of clicks of the mouse later I was finished.

So, do my phone and I exist happily ever after now that I have a cutting edge piece of technology in my back pocket? Sadly not. In my opinion the Samsung does have several flaws. Read on to find out why it isn't quite the little package that first impressions promise.

The Samsung is a small phone, and small phone means small battery. Small battery equals less talktime/standby time. Nokia appear to have successfully negotiated this problem, if used properly (
ie: fully discharged prior to each recharge), then the latest Nokias last the best part of a week. My Samsung shuts down after about 48 hours. The charger, with which I am now so familiar, plugs into a port which is normally covered by a small plastic stopper. The stopper is removed by a small tag at one end, or it used to be until it snapped off. Removal now takes around 20 seconds, an art which I have perfected with the use of a staple.

Onto SMS messaging then. I don't send endless text messages, just the odd few here and there. The predictive text software somehow isn't quite as clairvoyant as my old Nokia, thus compiling even a simple message can be frustrating as sometimes the most common of words elude the capabilities of this phone. Good job I didn't have to enter all my friends and contacts details, as I would probably still be doing it now. I used to pick up football scores via text messages with my old phone, but it appears that to do this with the Samsung requires you to set up a service with a 'Footie on the Fone' feature. Fine, but I'm not twelve, and would like to press perhaps just a couple of buttons to see what the Premiership has to offer on any Saturday afternoon that I can't get near the television or a radio. As I have internet access at home, WAP technology doesn't really interest me. Good job really, as the few times that I have attempted to connect, out of interest, I get an error message. Not one to be outdone by technology, I had a quick peek at the manual, but it was far from obvious what the problem was. I got the vague impression that I needed to call somewhere and set an account up, but I haven't bothered to be honest. I couldn't put up with pressing all those fiddly buttons.

The hands free kit was up for trial next. Another port covered by a plastic plug situated at the top of the phone offers this facility. Shame mine doesn't work, perhaps I have done someth
ing wrong, but again it isn't obvious. Extensive usage would probably make the plastic stopper fall off anyway so perhaps I shall leave it be. No voice dialling option would probably discourage me from using this in the car anyway. Maybe that is on a hidden menu with the games that don't appear to be accessible from any other area of the phone map. I do miss snake a little bit you know.

So are there any redeeming features? I have given this phone a bit of a pasting, but as a mobile phone and not a home entertainment centre it performs more than adequately. If you remember to charge it every night and can live without all the extras that have suddenly become pre-requisites for the younger generation of mobile users, then it isn't a bad phone after all. The organiser/calendar function is up to the task of providing simple reminders too. The flip open style design ensures that you'll never make a call unknowingly again, and means that you'll be able to pop this into the smallest of pockets unobtrusively.

To conclude, it looks great, and handles the basics, but I think that when this contract is up I shall be returning to Nokia, as they have clearly been spoiling me as far as on the move communications go.

Summary: