These svelte candy-bar phones boast serious style and multimedia capabilities. Which one deserves a place in your front pocket? Let the battle begin.
Review summary of the Samsung SGH-T519:
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Full review of the Samsung SGH-T519:
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Round 1: Design
Though the SLVR, and its cousin the RAZR, were considered amazingly slim phones when they were initially released, the Trace's 0.3 inches profile is almost shockingly this -- so thin, in fact, that bystanders literally asked us, "Is that a real phone?" Both phones have a flat keypad, but the SLVR keys are a little more jumbled, while the keys on the Trace are more discrete. The SLVR keys have better backlighting, making them very easy to read, whereas the keys on the T519 were illegible in certain lighting conditions. Most importantly, though, the screen on the SLVR cannot compare to the bright, crisp screen on the Trace, even though they are roughly the same size. The Trace's screen is one of the best we've seen.
Winner: Samsung SGH-T519 Trace
Round 2: Calling
Both phones have similar calling features, including a speakerphone, Bluetooth, and three-way calling, though conferencing is handled a little better on the SLVR. Both phones feature live, while-you-type searching in their address books, though the contact list on the SLVR, with its pleasant yellow-and-black color scheme, was a bit easier to read. Though the Trace is a thinner phone, this actually made it less comfortable to hold for long period of time; we preferred the SLVR's slightly thicker form. Ultimately, though, the SLVR had better call quality than the Trace, which suffered from a digitized sound that let listeners know they were talking to a cell phone; for that reason, the SLVR takes the category.
Winner: Motorola SLVR L7c
Round 3: Messaging
Neither phone had a keypad we would call comfortable, though typing was slightly easier on the Samsung device. Both phones support SMS and MMS messaging, as well as instant messaging for AIM, Yahoo, and MSN users, though the Trace takes this one step further with ICQ support. Both phones displayed a disappointingly low number of characters on screen at once for incoming and outgoing SMS messages; neither could display a full 160-character message. E-mail on the SLVR comes preconfigured for AOL, Yahoo, and MSN, while the Trace lacks any pre-loaded e-mail support. The SLVR also supports Voice SMS messages, while the Trace does not. Though we were hard on the SLVR's messaging capabilities in our original review, we've come to expect more messaging functions from a 3G phone in the past few months, and we still think it does a better job than the Trace.
Winner: Motorola SLVR L7c
Round 4: Multimedia
It may be easy to dismiss the Trace's multimedia capabilities due to its lack of 3G networking, but the thin phone still includes some impressive features. Its camera has a higher resolution than the VGA lens on the SLVR, and though resolution doesn't determine picture quality, we did find the Trace took better pictures. Both phones handle music and can store files on their (poorly placed) microSD cards, though obviously the SLVR's 3G radio gives it the advantage, with access to the Sprint Music Store (read our full review of Sprint's Power Vision service here). Neither phone does a satisfactory job at Web browsing, which is especially disappointing in the SLVR's case, considering its faster network speed. However, the SLVR takes full advantage of its EV-DO capability when you access the Power Vision network. Videos look great, and can be displayed full screen in portrait and landscape mode. For this reason, the SLVR is our multimedia winner.
Winner: Motorola SLVR L7c
And the winner is . . .
When we reviewed these phones individually, the SLVR scored lower than the Trace, but we were holding it to a higher standard as a full-fledged multimedia phone. Though we like the ultra-slim body of the Samsung T519, it can't compete with the thicker 3G SLVR in terms of multimedia content, and even call quality was better on the Motorola phone. Messaging was a closer call, and neither phone had a keypad that was truly comfortable, but the SLVR could do everything the Trace could and more. At CES 2007, Samsung showed us their SGH-A727, basically an HSDPA version of the Trace, which could close the gap between the Trace and the SLVR. We're excited to get our hands on it for a future matchup
Champion: Motorola SLVR L7c
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Motorola SLVR L7c
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Score: 61% When: January 2007 Worth: $70 - $330 Carrier: Sprint
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Sprint's rendition of the SLVR features EV-DO for streaming video and Bluetooth in a thin form. Does 3G networking keep it up to speed, or should you pass it by?
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Samsung SGH-T519
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Score: 54% When: September 2006 Worth: $Free Carrier: T-Mobile
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The Samsung Trace is supermodel thin, yet it packs in a 1.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, and memory expansion. Philip Berne takes the T519 off the runway for a real-world road test.
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