Samsung's slim SGH-D820 slider is thinner than most but also a tad wider; Jørgen Sundgot gets to know the quad-band-toting, EDGE-equipped handset with Bluetooth and a 1.3 Megapixel camera.
Review summary of the Samsung SGH-D820:
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 Add an all-black and sleek design to a slider handset and it'll be a definitive hit - and even more so if you throw in an impressively bright and clear high-resolution screen to act as the viewfinder for a Megapixel camera snapping high-quality stills. Still, its superbly slim form factor has led the handset to make some compromises, including a mediocre navigational pad and battery life. For those who don't mind these slight bumps in the road, however, the Samsung SGH-D820 comes highly recommended. Release: April 2006. Price: $450.
Pros: Excellent screen; sleek design; good camera
Cons: Mediocre navigational buttons; average battery life
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Full Samsung SGH-D820 Review:
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It's the handset Darth Vader would carry with pride; dark, shiny and angular, brandishing a screen so bright we've rarely seen its likes. At 99 x 51 x 15.2 mm, Samsung's SGH-D820 is the slimmest handset we've tested to date - and despite our silly reference to the dark side of force, it manages to climb right to the top of the charts at the time of writing courtesy of a modest dose of gadgetry packed into an attractive slider form factor - yet is not without flaws.
Open, close. Open, close. Open...
There is something strangely seductive about handsets with spring-action mechanisms, and the SGH-D820 is no different. A tad wider than most, the handset still rests comfortably in ones hand, springing open with the nudge of a slightly-too-smooth nub placed just below its fabulous 2.12-inch colour screen. Said screen is a sight for sore eyes with its QVGA resolution and excellent brightness, playing host to static and animated user interfaces that virtually pop off the screen.
When closed, users can access all parts of the handset through its woefully mediocre navigational pad; to dial, the front half slides upwards to reveal a numerical keypad which, thankfully, is its polar opposite with large, backlit buttons. A brief look at the sides of the SGH-D820 reveal fiddle-tastic plastic hatches for combo audio out/USB 2.0 connectivity and microSD memory expansion, while a 180-degree rotating 1.3 Megapixel camera is wedged in just above the screen - all in a rather lightweight and sleek design at 103 g.
Said camera is one of the two main attractions of the handset, and snaps stills with excellent white balance, good colour saturation and decent resolution. Once taken, users can easily send images via e-mail, MMS or Bluetooth; print them via a bundled USB cable or Bluetooth; or store them in the 73 MB of onboard memory or on a microSD card for later viewing on the handset's own display or - would you believe it - a TV via Composite video out.
A bit of music on the side
The handset's music player is the second main attraction, yet unfortunately fails to impress. Slick-looking, it supports MP3 and AAC file formats while boasting a 4-mode equalizer and 3D sound, but the bundled earphones are of entirely average quality - and we're also not very fond of an adapter being required for connecting headphones with a 3.5 mm jack.
Fortunately for the SGH-D820, it also comes equipped with a decent backing band in the shape of quad-band GSM support and EDGE for high-speed data transfers; Bluetooth takes care of connecting headsets or laptops to the Internet. A XHTML capable WAP 2.0 microbrowser is also present, although unable to load larger pages which renders it suitable for WAP surfing only. Furthermore, the handset features a phonebook capable of storing 1000 entries, SMS and MMS, Java support and polyphonic as well as MP3 ringtones.
Reception for the Samsung SGH-D820 proved to be excellent, while voice quality was good. The battery delivered approximately 3.5 hours of talk time and 4 days of standby time.
Price and availability
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