With 3G support and a crystal clear screen, the SGH-Z400 packs video calling, a music player and e-mail access. Is it worth importing?
Review summary of the Samsung SGH-Z400:
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 With video calling and 3G support, the slick Z400 makes for a tempting slider, especially if you happen to have a SIM card running on a UMTS network. We were impressed by the phone's top-notch screen, solid call quality and ability to access our POP/IMAP e-mail accounts. However, we wish the phone's messaging interface took full advantage of the generous 2-inch display, and we miss features such as instant messaging and voice calling. Finally, in our tests, the phone stumbled with its relatively weak signal reception. Release: June 2006. Price: $450.
Pros: Beautiful screen; video calling, document viewer; POP/IMAP e-mail access; comfortable keys; good speakerphone.
Cons: No IM support; limited messaging options; calls produced static due to poor reception.
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74%
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Full review of the Samsung SGH-Z400:
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Design
The shiny, silver Samsung SGH-Z400 slider may not be remarkably small or light, but it feels solid, with a satisfying snap to the slide and a raised tab under the screen to help open the phone. The phone opens to reveal a 2-megapixel camera on the back. The Z400's screen is remarkably crisp, cramming 320 by 240 pixels and 262,000 colors into the two-inch screen.
Calling - Good
We tested the Z400 in New York City, and voice quality on the phone was good, although we encountered some static and occasional dips in sound. Also, we noticed that the phone's reception indicator only showed three out of five bars, while other phones we've tested using the same SIM card reported full signal strength. The phone supports vibration, MP3 and polyphonic rings, and breaks alerts into profiles. The address book is slightly better than average, with standard phone fields and even some storage for addresses, but you can't assign specific ringtones to individual contacts. Searching the address book is easy thanks to while-you-type searching. The speakerphone is loud enough to use in a busy office, and the phone supports Bluetooth headsets and conference calling, but you won't find any voice-dialing functions.
Messaging - Good
The Z400 comes with a so-so message editor, which only displays 112 characters on incoming SMS messages and about 85 on outgoing messages -- too bad, given the phone's nicely sized, easy-to-read screen. Message handling is basic, with no replied-to icons or advanced messaging folders. The phone can handle POP3, IMAP4 and SMTP e-mail, which is a nice touch, but alerts for messages are limited to a set of five beeping tones, and instant messaging is strangely absent. Typing messages on the phone was comfortable, but the white backlit letters blend into the silver keys a little too well, rendering them nearly invisible under fluorescent light.
Odds and ends
In addition to the 2-megapixel camera on back, the Z400 also includes a front-facing VGA camera for video calls, if you're lucky enough to be using the phone on a 3G UMTS network (which we weren't). This also limited our ability to test the document viewer, which can read office document attachments. The music player can handle popular music formats, but offers no stereo Bluetooth support.
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Samsung SGH-E900
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Score: 67% When: June 2006 Worth: $400
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With its slick look and touch-sensitive buttons, the import Samsung SGH-E900 slider lives on the cutting edge of style. Will its stereo Bluetooth support help it tackle the music phone behemoths?
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Samsung SGH-Z710
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When: October 2006 Worth: $600
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The SGH-i320 runs Windows Mobile 5.0 complete with thumbboard; the SGH-Z560 snaps 3.2 Megapixel stills; the SGH-710 downloads an MP3 in 10 seconds; and the SGH-Z150 redefines slim.
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Price and availability
The Samsung SGH-Z400 will start selling for $450 ((Vodafone)) in June 2006.
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