Highly functional, if basic phone. (Samsung SGH-N500)

Member Name: monkeywarrior

Product:	Samsung SGH-N500
Date:	07/06/04 (356 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great looking, Spectacular backlight, Excellent call quality

Disadvantages: Lacking in modern features, Superseded by better models

I have used the Samsung SGH-N500 occasionally for a year or so now, it was originally purchased on eBay (locked to o2) for the bargain price of £50. When it was being sold it retailed for between 60-120, I doubt you'll find it around new anymore having been superseded by the new C100 (similar but colour screen).

The phone is very stylish and tactile, all the lines, features and buttons seem to be in just the right place - this is something I've always admired in Samsung phones. From the moment I began to use it I realised it is essentially the same operating system and layout as the older Samsung R210, which I also owned around a year previous to this (may do a review of that one sometime too).

When you power up, the screen illuminates a spectacularly bright light blue, this is one of the best backlights I've seen and always turns heads - I even use it as a torch sometimes! The keys also illuminate blue and the phone looks great in the dark. The screen is plain black & white LCD but is large and adequate for all of its uses. There's a small LED at the top of the phone which Samsung call the service light - it can be customised to any of 7 colours and flashes regularly when the phone is powered on - you can turn this off if you wish, which I do because it annoys me... but it adds to the visual impact.

Control is via a fairly standard menu-based operating system which is very simple and will be familiar to anyone who's used a Samsung before (like I said, its near identical to the R210). Making a call, writing a text, editing the phonebook are all very easy but features are basic so don't expect anything too snazzy. Also available is voice dialling/commands which is unusual on a basic phone like this but it can be a bit hot and miss in practice. The wap brows
er is again functional but basic, I've never managed to get the bookmarks feature to work on it sadly.

The phone comes pre-loaded with 11, yes eleven, games, most of which are pretty playable to kill a few minutes, nothing revolutionary again though. Casino is my favourite... its just a slot machine basically, essentially tedious but somehow addictive...

Call quality I have found to be excellent, the phone nearly always gets a decent signal with its internal antenna and I have to say it's noticeably better quality than my tiny SonyEricsson T600 (also reviewed). No problems on this front.

All in all, its a functional, reliable, good quality phone that does everything it does (although fairly basic) very very well. Highly recommended as you could well be able to find it for a real bargain price these days. Please do check out my mobiles website (linked to under ?my homepage?) if you'd like me to help you find one!

Summary: