Easily confused with your average 2G clamshell, Jørgen Sundgot marvels at Samsung's new and small 3G-enabled SGH-Z500.
Despite my personal dislike of phones (said by someone who lugs around half a pound of devices) so small you can lose track of them in a sparsely equipped prison cell, I have to admit there's something to be said for Samsung's new SGH-Z500. Given the opportunity to play with the handset in Cannes, I could not help but marvel over the size of this absolutely miniscule 3G model - and my guess is I'm not going to be the only one.
Measuring a laughably small 89 x 44 x 25 mm and weighing 95 g, the SGH-Z500 might possibly be the smallest 3G handset on the block when it hits European shores this summer - or June, to be exact. It's the size of a 2G phone, and certainly feels that way in every respect, but in addition to tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz, it also boasts WCDMA 2100 MHz support for UMTS networks (trust me, I get frustrated by those seemingly endless abbreviations, too).
 | | Samsung SGH-Z500 |
Although the 262K TFT colour screen of the SGH-Z500 is not as good as that of some other recently previewed Samsung models, it's more than adequately crisp and clear at 176 x 220 pixels - although the user interface comes across as supremely basic. As for the keypad, this remains highly usable with good tactile feedback and low audible noise despite being of modest size; a perfect combination for any handset.
The fact that Samsung has managed to cram two camera lenses into the SGH-Z500 is also something which speaks of the company's engineering excellence. The one on the back is 1.3 Megapixels, whilst the one facing the user is 0.3 Megapixels, meaning users can even conduct video calls from the SGH-Z500. How long the battery lasts, however, is another matter entirely.
 | | Samsung SGH-Z500 |
On that note, it's also time to mention the audio player capabilities of the SGH-Z500, which is graced with high quality audio output. MP3, AAC and AAC+ formats are supported, and 50 MB of internal memory is rather spacious considering the less-than-spacious size of the handset. What's more, there's also a TransFlash memory expansion slot - which speaks more of Samsung's engineering prowess than the wisdom applied to its choice of memory format.
Impressively, Samsung has also managed to cram Bluetooth and IrDA into the SGH-Z500, and although its external display isn't among the largest in its class, it's clearly visible and provides pertinent information. Summa summarum, the SGH-Z500 is yet another display of how Samsung raises the bar for every other manufacturer; competitors better take note.
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