Samsung U900 Soul
RATING
Pros
- 3G and HSDPA (7.2 Mbps)
- 5 MP camera
- Face detection and WDR
- Metal casing
- Looks good
Cons
- Tri-band only
- No audio jack
SUMMARY
Stylish 3G HSDPA 5 MP slider camera phone with unique touch-pad navigation. Good features and build quality, the U900 Soul is Samsung's flagship phone for 2008.
Review
The Samsung U900 Soul is a tri-band 3G HSDPA slider phone with 5 MP camera, touch-pad, and FM radio. It's the last of Samsung's "ultra edition" range of phones. "Soul" is an abbreviation of "The Spirit Of Ultra".
The U900 Soul (aka Samsung Soul) has several stand-out features.
1. 5 MP camera with face-recognition, wide dynamic range (WDR) and image stabilizer.
2. Magic Touch by DaCP. The area beneath the screen is a touch-pad. The icons change according to the menu you've selected. For example, select the camera, and you're presented with camera control icons.
This contextual menu design is very much like the LG KF600 - the "mind-reading" interactive phone.
The U900 Soul is available in 2 colours - Graphite and Silver. A red version also appears to be available.
Say Cheese:
Samsung Soul G400: A flip (clamshell) version will launch in the next few months (Q2 2008). The G400 has two 2.2-inch screens.
Design
The U900 Soul has stainless steel casing. It has a solid quality feel, much like many of the other metal mobile phones, such as the Nokia 6500 Slide. The slider is smooth. Build quality is good.
Front: Earpiece, display, touch panel, soft keys, dial key, power/menu key, front camera lens (top left). Slide open to reveal the keypad and microphone.
Left: Multi-function jack, video call key, volume keys.
Back: 5 MP camera lens, mirror, flash.
Right: Camera key, microSD memory card slot.
User manual: Samsung are superb at producing useless mobile phone instruction manuals. The U900 manual is another winner. C - , could do better.
Keypad: Good. Big flat keys, separated by ridges. Easy to use. Top marks.
Touch-pad: The icons change according to the application you are using. EG: Switch to the camera (you get camera controls), music player (you get the music player controls). Very straightforward. 5 icons per application - 1 in the centre, and 1 in each of the four side positions. Haptic feedback on each press.
Features
5 MP Camera
5 MP camera (2560 x 1920 pixels) with QVGA (320 x 240 pixels) video capture. Key features / settings include white balance, shoot mode, effects, auto focus, face detection, Wide Dynamic Range (WDR), image stabilizer (anti-shake), picture quality, ISO, exposure compensation.
Quality-wise, yeah, looks quite good. There's not much to choose between the U900 and other 5 MP camera phones: Samsung G800, Nokia N95 8GB or the LG Viewty.
Video capture is 320 x 240 at 15 fps - not great. Nokia phones are the best when it comes to video capture.
Face Detection: The camera detects faces in a scene, then sets the focus, exposure and flash. Cameras without face detection can sometimes miss faces and focus on something else - producing lower quality photos. Trivia: "70 percent of images taken have a person as the subject". The software can only recognise human faces.
Wide Dynamic Range: Captures more image detail in bright light and deep shadows. WDR is supposed to give "superior tonal quality".
The Samsung G800 also has face detection, WDR and image stabilizer. The Samsung G800 also has optical zoom.
Tri-Band GSM
Tri-band GSM only. No 850 Mhz. 850 Mhz is used in Caribbean, South, Central and North America. Why not quad-band?
Music Player
Fine. Playlists, recently played, most played, artists, genres, visualizations, equalizer. Plug earphones into the port. There's no 3.5 mm jack, so you need an adapter to plug in your earphones. The U900 uses Bang & Olufsen amplifiers. Sounds OK.
Other Features
FM radio with RDS, organiser / PIM tools, video and image editors, games, NetFront Web browser, video player, shozu, document viewer, HSDPA (up to 7.2 Mbps Internet download speeds), SMS, MMS and email.
Summary
Looks good. Feels good. The touch-pad is easy to use, and features are fine - 5 MP camera, music player, FM radio... You can buy the Samsung U900 Soul for "free" on a pay-monthly contract, or get it for about £240 on PAYG. Check out the home page to view the latest latest mobile phones.
= coming soonFeatures / Specifications
* confirm features at manufacturer's Web site.
4.2 x 1.9 x 0.5 inches
4 oz
- 2.2-inch TFT
- 240x320 pixels
- 16000000 colours
- Haptic feedback
- 100 MB phone memory
- microSD memory card (4 GB max)
- Tri-band (GSM 900, 1800 and 1900 Mhz)
- EDGE
- 3G (UMTS 2100 Mhz)
- HSDPA (Max: 7.2 Mbps)
- Talk time: 5 hours
- Standby time: 320 hours
In The Box
Samsung U900 Soul phone, battery, charger, software CD, user guide.
Connectivity
- Bluetooth 2.0
- USB 2.0
- Video calling
Camera
- 5.0 MP Camera
- features: White balance, shoot mode, effects, auto focus, face detection, Wide Dynamic Range (WDR), image stabilizer (anti-shake), picture quality, ISO, exposure compensation.
- QVGA video resolution
- 15 FPS video capture
Messaging
- SMS, MMS, Email
Entertainment
- Games: Asphalt 2, Minigolf Las Vegas, Paris Hilton's Dream
- FM radio
- RDS Radio
- Music Player
- Video Player
Internet
- NetFront Web browser
- RSS Reader
Installed Applications
- Shozu, image editor, video editor
- Document viewer
- PIM: calendar, to-do list, calculator, converter, clock, alarm, currency converter, stopwatch, SIM application toolkit
- Voice recorder
Prices
Prices coming soon.
TAGS: 3g, hsdpa, music, 5.0 MP camera, slider phones
Useful Links
| Official Site: | Samsung U900 Soul |
| User Manual: | U900 Soul User Manual |
| Press Release: | U900 Press Release |
| YouTube Videos: | Samsung U900 Soul Videos |
| Images: | Samsung U900 Soul Images |
