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Samsung SGH D900i
Form Factor
Part of Samsung’s Metal Series, the SGH D900i appears to be a sleek slider phone. The gray and chrome surface around the 2.12 inch TFT display helps to give it a chic look. The slide-out keypad is large and easy to use, even for those with outsize fingers. The 5-way nav pad is ergonomic, with the Internet shortcut in the dead center.
On one side of the phone are the Volume/Zoom keys and microSD card slot. The dedicated camera 'shortcut' key and the proprietary earphones/charging/TV out port are located on the other side. The reason for the quotes is because the camera key doesn’t seem to work as a shutter release but just to activate the application. Nothing more. How odd is that?
Features and Performance
I was never a fan of the OS that Samsung has been using. But I have to say the newer phones do make it look good. The crisp 240 x 320 pixel display really shows the colors and details very well. The slider was smooth for a long time but started to get a bit sticky later on. Not enough to make me dislike it though.
What I found to be really odd is when I wanted to increase the speaker volume, the image goes up to 7 bars and even though there are at least 4 more bars it wont go any further – it asks to switch to loudspeaker mode.
One other thing was when I tried to disable the keypad tones. The option in the settings didn’t seem to get highlighted at all even though it is there. After trying everything including throwing the book at it, I found out that all you need to do is just decrease the volume using the volume keys. So why bother showing the option at all?
The menus are a bit cluttered, with sub-menus opening up in the same page, but navigation is decent. The features are exactly what you’ll need or find in any other mobile, with a calendar for reminders, schedules etc. There are also options for storing memos, using either the voice recorder or typed input. Other business applications include world clock, converter, timer and stopwatch.
An oddity with this phone is the key lock. If the slider is closed you will get an option (on the screen) to lock the keypad. However, even if you select no, it will later lock the keypad anyway. Why bother to ask if it’s going to do it anyway? Beats me.
Entertainment and Connectivity
Apparently the D900i has a TV out, which I was not able to check because Samsung doesn’t include it in the box, not is it easily available anywhere. The music player is quite loud. The problem is it sounds so shrill, like a Banshee. Even with the few presets (that make a negligible difference to the quality) it doesn’t get much better.
The FM radio is good though, and the pick-up was fine even while commuting. Since the phone is A2DP-compatible, if you have a good BT headset you’ll have no problem.
The browser is quite good and utilizes the screen adequately. Samsung has also included a Yahoo Search option for quick access. The problem is our service providers have a problem providing good connections. Most of the time their services are non-functional or not in range. Go figure. You can also hook the phone up to your PC for transferring your files or use Bluetooth if you have a dongle.
What I really find irritating about most Samsung mobiles (if not all) is the fact that you have to copy music files to the phone in order to use them as ring tones. And the transfer process is really s-l-o-w. Besides, I couldn’t seem to find an option to use my own message tones; there are four very low tones preloaded with no option for more.
The settings are rather annoying: you can either have it vibrate and then ring, just vibrate or just ring, or just switch it off. However, you can have it ring and vibrate for incoming calls. It’s just plain silly if you ask me.
Camera
In normal lighting conditions i.e. with plenty of light, the pictures come out just fine. As it's equipped with a 3 megapixel auto-focus camera I expected quite a lot. It was a disappointment. In low lighting, even using the flash and tweaking the settings didn’t really help.
But I do like the close-ups. If you can keep your hand steady enough, you can get some good shots. If you're the artistic sort, there are a few frames and color settings such as sepia, black-and-white, negative etc. that you can use.
The battery was just okay. Not too good and not too bad. The talk time as claimed by the company is around three-and-a-half hours. But that's being overly optimistic. With normal usage – calls, messaging, GPRS, camera, and a little music – it barely lasted me a whole day.
The Bottom Line
For Rs. 12,000, it’s really not worth it. To be honest, if Samsung drops the price to under 10K I would consider it. But with a camera that doesn’t cut it and a music player that is set to tear your eardrums and a few odd quirks with the settings, I think I'll pass. The only thing it has going for it are the looks. Not much more.
Specs
Samsung SGH D900i | |
| Network | GSM 850/900/1800/1900, GPRS, EDGE |
| Physical | 103.5 x 51 x 12.9 mm, 85 g |
| Display | 240 x 320, 256k colors, TFT, 2.1 inch |
| Memory | 60MB internal, MicroSD external |
| Media | MP3, AAC+, FM, 3GP, Voice Recording |
| Camera | 3 megapixels, auto-focus, flash video (cif) |
| Connectivity | USB 1.1, Bluetooth with A2DP |
| Battery | 260 hrs standby, 3 hrs |
| Street Price | Rs. 12,000 |