What is there to 'C' with this mobile phone? (Samsung SGH-C300)

Member Name: MizzMolko

Product:	Samsung SGH-C300
Date:	30/05/09 (149 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap, good battery life, cheap, reasonable reception, did I mention cheap?

Disadvantages: Texting is a nightmare at times; there are a few design flaws to contend with

After a tortuous life of being stashed away in a handbag for the best part of the day, my beautiful little Pebl U6 decided enough was enough so I was on the hunt for a new mobile. It was around this time when I was deliberating whether or not to get myself a contract with my network provider so I just wanted a cheap Pay As You Go phone to tie me over until I decided. As I'm still thinking long and hard about this, I thought I'd review the pros and cons of the Samsung C300, a phone which I paid a ridiculously meager price for as I got it from Argos for £20 back in December. I'm with Virgin Mobile (hehe funny name) and, although this particular model of phone is no longer available on their website you could purchase the Samsung C300 for as little as £12.99. I feel like I've been robbed!

WHO ARE SAMSUNG AND WHAT ARE THE BASIC FEATURES OF THE C300?
Samsung are a company that you will no doubt have at least heard of before, even if you've never used or purchased any of their products. Born from a tiny store in the early 1930s, Samsung are now one of the leading brands in all things electronics, from the said mobile phones to televisions, cameras and computers. Samsung are perhaps best known for their mobile phones, especially now-a-days when they are producing top of the range mobiles with features such as MSN becoming accessible whilst on the go.

However, purchasing the C300 at such a meagre price, it would be unfair to expect it to have such fantastic features and something all potential buyers should keep in mind; you're not going to get a 3000 megapixel camera here (like you need one of those on your phone anyway) and you're certainly not going to be graced with the powers of instant messaging. But the phone really is the epitome of 'back to basics', boasting a number of simple features that perhaps would be more suitable for a first time mobile phone user.

In theory.

With the Samsung C300, there is very little to shout about; it looks pretty cheap and acts pretty cheap too. It is a phone (at least by today's standards) which is just a mobile phone that you can call people from and text message them by, with not a lot going on elsewhere. The main features of the phone include such oddities as predictive texting, multimedia messaging (like emails), downloading capabilities, 'office' features such as calendars, calculators and alarms, not to mention WAP, loudspeaker and 2MB memory storage.

When you look at the list of features, it's difficult not to think back to the evolution of mobile phones from a couple of years ago when things like WAP and loudspeakers were becoming the 'must have' qualities on your new mobile. You can't complain because of the price being so darn good but things like a camera (of at least 1.3 megapixels for most people), Bluetooth accessibility and expandable memory will no doubt be features sorely missed if a lot of gadget freaks went out and bought this particular model of mobile phone.

OK, SO THERE AREN'T MANY NEW AND EXCITING FEATURES BUT WHAT DO YOU GET WITH THE SAMSUNG C300?
Obviously, you get the phone itself and it's quite a sweet little thing (yes all phones can be classed as either 'adorable', 'sweet' or 'cute'). The C300 fits comfortably into the palm of your hand and is a rectangular shape, mainly because it's a slider phone as opposed to a flip model that I had been used to. My version of the C300 is black but if you really, really don't like black, there is a very pretty pinky-red colour available for the same price although then you'd have the problem of matching all of your outfits to your new phone which is why it was just simpler to go with black.

In the box with your new baby, you get the instruction manuals, a sim card and a mobile phone charger. The charger attaches itself to the bottom of the phone and the socket is snugly packed away behind some black plastic. Awww. The charger - like the phone - is black and one thing I do like about the charger is how compact it is; unlike some chargers I've had in the past which could be quite cumbersome, this one is neat and is easy to store away anywhere, which is always a bonus. Plus, it calls itself a 'travel charger' so if you are the type who always packs way too much whilst going on holiday, normally forgetting the essentials such as phone and MP3 chargers, well this one doesn't happen to take up too much room. But the charger can hardly be described as the phones saving grace, unfortunately although it is a nice size.

The instruction manuals seem pretty much idiot-proof; they explain the basics of the phone, such as how to get set up although they are not extremely helpful when informing the buyer about how to switch that damned predictive texting off! As you can tell, I'm not a fan of predictive texting, and in many ways, the texting ability is one of the main things that lets this particular mobile phone down big style.

THE PHONE IN USE: HOW EASY IS THE C300 TO USE?
After being dependable on the Motorola Pebl for about two years, I did think it would be more of a struggle to get used to the Samsung C300. Of course the layout is different, such as which button accessed the menu and allowed me to text etcetera, but over the first few hours of usage, I was pleasantly surprised by this particular Samsung model as it was fairly easy to use and pick up the very basics.

One of the best things about the C300 is its screen size; with a height of about 4cm and a width of just under 3cm, the colours on the screen are surprisingly vivid and I'm sure if you are a person with bad eyesight that you wouldn't struggle too much with this phone in terms of negotiating your way around the menus and different features. Once you arrive at the main menu of the phone, there are nine portals that you can enter, including the message section, phone settings and organisers. One of the things I do like about the phone is the fact that all of the sections are number co-ordinated. For example, if I want to check my text messaging inbox, I can either scroll to get to the messages section or press the number 5, which will take me to the message menu. Once you enter each of the phones different sections, you will find that all of the individual menus are number orientated but if you prefer the scroll and search method that is also doable.

Making calls can be done without going into the menu which is another handy but hardly unique quality about the C300 but it is very easy to do as the phonebook is accessible without going into the main menu and you can also check to see who you last called and any phone calls you may have received or missed by simply pressing the green button. This button is also the one you press to answer the phone which again is fairly simplistic and in-keeping with many other mobile phones in terms of style.

OK SO IN SOME RESPECTS THE C300 IS EASY TO USE, BUT...
Don't get me wrong, the phone itself isn't too bad a quality but there are some aspects of the C300 which, if improved, would make the phone an overall better buy. For example, one of my biggest gripes is the ability to text. Now, it's not that I'm totally useless when it comes to all things technology based but it really annoys me when things don't work quickly or indeed very well. The Samsung C300 is at its most annoying when texting, for the following reasons (yes there will be numbered bullet points to express the full extent of my dissatisfaction...)

1. The sliding part of the phone is a little bit in the way of the top keys, numbers one, two and three: I've never had a sliding phone before so it might just be me being slow at getting used to this concept that a phone doesn't have to flip to be a phone (still in love with the design of the Pebl...) Yet, pressing the buttons repeatedly seems to be a real chore; number two seems to be a little bit stuck and after pressing it the once, it doesn't always want to move on to another letter. It's bad enough trying to decipher my texts anyway, never mind the fact that I sometimes mistype them because of the silly sliding thingy and put As where Bs and Cs are meant to be!

2. The predictive texting thing is really irksome; to my knowledge, there is nowhere on this phone that allows you to simply alter which style of texting you'd prefer to use on a regular basis, either manually or the said predictive texting. On the Pebl, it used to save this option automatically; however on the C300, you have to switch from predictive to manual texting each and every time you want to send a message, which leads me onto my next moan...

3. So, when you do manage to switch from the predictive to manual setting, you next have to contend with the numbers feature; if you want to put the number one in your text, say you're meeting your friend at 1.40pm or something, then you have to switch to the numbers button - this is only necessary for numbers 1 and 0 because with the other keys, the numbers pop up after the three or four letters they represent. However, when you're trying to switch your phone back from the number texting, you go back to predictive texting to manual texting, which is fine, but once you arrive at the manual mode, you'll find that your letters are in capitals! I know this seems like a minor complaint but when you're texting someone in a bit of a hurry then it makes the whole texting thing seem even more long-winded than need be.

Away from the texting, it has to be said that the buttons themselves can be a little unresponsive at times. Ok, I was used to this after the Pebl as the keys on that phone are flat too but with the C300, you can be in the middle of pressing them (especially whilst texting) and they will just stop, making you spell things very, very badly. They are quite hard buttons to make function at times so if you have arthritis in your hands or fingers, you might want to search for a phone with better quality buttons that are rubbery or as flat as they can be quite irksome and unresponsive on many occasions.

OK, OK, SO THE TEXTING ISN'T A STRONG POINT FOR THE SAMSUNG C300 - HOW CAN YOU HAVE FUN WITH THE PHONE?
If you call fun playing a couple of crappy, old skool graphic games and flicking between one rubbish ringtone to another, than the C300 is your man...or woman depending on which colour you decide to purchase...

The not so aptly called 'FunBox' section on the C300 hosts a couple of interesting curios that are bound to amuse even the not-so-simplest of minds for a couple of minutes. Here, you will find the WAP browser, a feature which is accessible without even entering the menu by just hitting the 'i' button in the middle of the slider. The WAP doesn't take too long to dial up, possibly about half a minute in most scenarios and the homepage is the Virgin Bites feature. Here, you can find 'celebrity' updates as I unfortunately found out when 'I'm a (non) Celebrity...' was being shown on ITV right after I first purchased this phone. Whilst the WAP is quite good, it can be a little bit temperamental as to whether it will work efficiently or not although I accept my flat at Uni was possibly the worst place in the world to try and test this out as the signal in there was usually very poor indeed. However, it's fair to say that the WAP is the most technologically advanced this phone is ever likely to get, especially when taking into consideration the games featured on the C300.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not usually a person who needs or even wants a lot of games on a mobile phone. However, they're always handy when you're stuck in the car and the radio is crap and your MP3 player has died - oh the shame! So, on this little Samsung, the games are a little bit of a subconscious essential and are in fact so subliminal you're likely to forget about them after one or two goes. Powered by Java, there is a rather seasonal game called the Snowball Fight which is impossibly difficult, in terms of manoeuvring the miniature ginger character, even if his aim in life is to whack some other poor kid with a ball of snow. Then there is Minesweeper, which I've never liked anyway as well as Sudoku. As luck would have it, the one game I do like on here - Tetris - is only available for one level and then you have to pay to download it to get the full game. Whilst there are a fair few games on the C300, none of them really grabbed my attention all that much but they're not bad considering they're just 'filler's for your mobile phone.

Although you have to upload additional sounds and images yourself, it just wouldn't be a mobile phone review without mentioning the joys of the ringtones. In total, there are ten to choose from, with the best being 'Cynicism' (how appropriate, ay?) but they all boast the same bells and melodies so you're not getting a fantastically broad range of tones here. The different keypad tones are all of a similar calibre too and it seems a bit pointless messing about changing them anyway in my opinion.

THERE ARE SOME DESIGN FAULTS WITH THE PHONE...
One of the biggest of these faults is the confusion with the ringtone volume; I've been trying to search for a 'silent' option on this phone so that when I want to keep the phone on but not loud, it is still a possibility. However, Samsung have sloppily entitled this option as 'alert upon call' and they might as well have written this instruction in a distant foreign language as it would have made more sense to me! What happened to the good-old-days when you could go below one on the volume bar and a message would pop up informing you that your phone had been put onto the silent mode?

Although the menu numbers feature that I was telling you about earlier is a good idea and means for a quicker functioning of your phone, some of the individual menus have a 'delete all' option that is accessed by pressing various number buttons upon entering each section. I've nearly lost all of the numbers on my phone because of this (on the 'Phonebook' menu, you can choose to 'delete all' by pressing the number 6) so it's a good idea to be a little cautious whilst using the phone, especially if you're in a bit of a hurry. However, sometimes you're denied of haste because of how clumsy the slider can be; in the past, the slider on my C300 seems to have gotten 'stuck' for a few seconds, during which time I couldn't move the slider up or down as easily as you'd normally expect. Although this is yet to be a major problem, with it seemingly being resolved promptly after a good few seconds, I do fear that the phone would be pretty useless if it did happen to 'lock' itself into a position that is neither closed nor opened.

One comforting similarity between my much loved Pebl and the C300 is the fact that the screens are impossible to clean; they both always have finger prints etched all over them which is surely good for forensic scientists, but not very aesthetically pleasing for the English student!

OVERALL: IS THE C300 THE DARK HORSE OF THE MOBILE PHONE WORLD?
If your definition of 'dark horse' is confusing but bizarrely basic then yes, the Samsung C300 is the dark horse of the mobile phone world. Samsung it seems have been a bit careless with some of its design features, particularly with respects to the 'delete all' options and volume functions but whether this is an issue across their entire range of mobiles or not is something that I am yet to discover as I've never had a Samsung mobile before and in some ways, this phone tempted me to try others in their range - because of how easy the majority of the features are to use - but in other ways, it's put me off the brand a lot.

One of the best things about this phone is its battery life; with a talk time of over 7 hours and a standby time of 325 hours, it's a phone that is very good for all of the simple stuff and the battery is pretty reliable if you want to stay connected with people. After getting a ridiculous amount of free texts from Virgin this past week, I've been text mad and after sending over fifty messages over the course of a couple of days, the battery had only just worn itself down to one bar (there are three battery bars in total). That to me is suitably impressive and undeniably one of the best features of the C300.

Yet, in areas where there isn't a fantastic signal, the phone fails epically in allowing you to have a decent phone conversation. Sure, the Pebl had its moments where the signal wasn't at its best (man I'm making it sound like I'm an over excitable parent comparing their twins GCSE results!) but it seems to be quite an issue with the C300 where the sound quality just isn't up to the mark sometimes. Like the battery, the signal is measured in bars which go up to seven and even if it's at the maximum level of bars, the signal can be a little bit temperamental at times although this isn't always the case and the phone seems to thrive in areas where there is a lot of background noise, such as on buses and in crowded restaurants. In such scenarios, it's not too difficult to hear the person on the other end of the line and - dare I say it? - the C300 beats the Pebl by miles in this area.

With the Samsung C300, it's certainly a case of 'what you see is what you get'; you're not going to be mesmerised by this phones features, simply put it because there are very few to brag about. However, if you're looking into buying your pre-teen their first phone, before they hit the dreaded age when they want everything with the best megapixel camera and video capabilities then this may be the phone you are looking for; it's a light, little mobile phone which is great for keeping in touch with one another by because of its first-rate battery life and efficient sound quality.

Oh and if you go from a majorly blinged out phone - with all of the latest gadgets about novelties - will you be vying for those top of the range features if you buy the Samsung C300? Well, if you're anything like me then no because you'll be too busy trying to work out how to switch that silly predictive texting off to care!

(Note: Previously displayed on Ciao.co.uk - written by moi and under the name of MizzMolko)

Summary: A nice, cheap little Samsung mobile - did I mention it's cheap?

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