Samsung M520 Cell Phone Review
http://www.newmobileorder.com/articles/58/1/Samsung-M520-Cell-Phone-Review/Page1.html
By Eazzy Mintzberg
Published on 04/25/2008
The Samsung M520 is a slim slider phone from Sprint. The device sports
professional good looks, GPS functionality, and a very comfortable
keypad. Its slim design is slightly belied by the width and height of
the device, but it should still fit comfortably into most pants
pockets. The M520 is available for $49.99 with a two-year contract and
after a $50 mail-in rebate.
The Samsung M520 is a slim slider phone from Sprint. The device sports
professional good looks, GPS functionality, and a very comfortable
keypad. Its slim design is slightly belied by the width and height of
the device, but it should still fit comfortably into most pants
pockets. The M520 is available for $49.99 with a two-year contract and
after a $50 mail-in rebate.
We found it very easy to dial a phone number on the M520. Despite the
time it takes to open the slider and reveal the keypad, dialing speed
is still faster than average. We did find the ring volume a little
lower than average, and the vibrate feature is also less noticeable
than we would have liked. The M520 provides you with a full set of
organizer features, but don’t expect this device to replace a
full-fledged PDA or smart phone.
Audio quality on the Samsung M520 is very good for both audio sent from the device and audio received. In both cases the device passed our tests admirably with no significant issues. Side tone, the small amount of your own voice piped back into your ear so you can judge how loud you are speaking, is not as impressive. It’s a couple of decibels lower than we would have liked. This means you may judge your voice to be too low, causing you to speak louder than you might wish.
The M520 provides entry-level multimedia features, as you would expect from an entry-level handset. The camera in particular is poor, with photo resolution among the worst we’ve ever seen. Music playback is handled by Sprint’s music software, which is slow to load and has limited features. It does, however, provide you access to Sprint’s music store, where you can purchase a wide variety of songs for a reasonable 99 cents each. Battery life while playing back music is good at almost 14 hours. You will want to invest in a Micro SD card, with capacities up to 4GB supported, if you choose to use the M520 as your principal music device.
The Samsung M520’s software interface is generally responsive and easy to use. We particularly appreciate the system wide support for keypad shortcuts, as this makes getting around much faster. If you want to browse the web on the M520 we recommend you get the free Opera Mini browser, as the built-in web browser is very poor. The M520 does support Sprint’s high-speed EVDO network for fast download speeds.
The M520 has an excellent keypad for typing; we were able to manage an impressive 48.2 words per minute in our test, significantly better than average. Those who like text messaging will appreciate this solid performance, although the actual messaging software is nothing special. The M520 isn’t a good choice for those who want a mobile device to handle e-mail, however, as e-mail access is provided via web access rather than a built-in client.
One nice feature the M520 has that you don’t often see on entry-level handsets is support for GPS. Using Sprint’s navigator software you can find your location, obtain turn–by-turn directions and generally get around town. We wouldn’t depend on the Samsung M520 for long road trips, however, as you’ll need to be in range of a Sprint cell tower to download maps and information. You’ll also have to pay Sprint for the service, so the M520 won’t replace a standalone GPS unit.
Although we’re quite happy with the M520’s music playback time in our battery tests, we’re less impressed with the other results we obtained. Talk time is 4 hours, below average for handsets and just about the low end of what we would consider acceptable. If you browse the web a lot or download a lot of songs you will also see battery life fall quickly as the M520 lasts only 3 hours and 38 minutes in our browsing test. Those who spend a lot of time on the phone might find the M520’s battery life to be limiting.
The M520 is a solid handset for those looking for an entry-level device. We like the professional good looks, quick interface, and comfortable keypad. The GPS functionality is a nice extra and the M520 can even double as a music player if you can deal with the slow-to-load Sprint music software. The M520 does have its drawbacks, however. We have concerns about the battery life, and the M520’s camera is very poor. That being said, any budget handset has drawbacks and the M520 is a solid value for the price.
[reviews.washingtonpost.com]
We found it very easy to dial a phone number on the M520. Despite the
time it takes to open the slider and reveal the keypad, dialing speed
is still faster than average. We did find the ring volume a little
lower than average, and the vibrate feature is also less noticeable
than we would have liked. The M520 provides you with a full set of
organizer features, but don’t expect this device to replace a
full-fledged PDA or smart phone.Audio quality on the Samsung M520 is very good for both audio sent from the device and audio received. In both cases the device passed our tests admirably with no significant issues. Side tone, the small amount of your own voice piped back into your ear so you can judge how loud you are speaking, is not as impressive. It’s a couple of decibels lower than we would have liked. This means you may judge your voice to be too low, causing you to speak louder than you might wish.
The M520 provides entry-level multimedia features, as you would expect from an entry-level handset. The camera in particular is poor, with photo resolution among the worst we’ve ever seen. Music playback is handled by Sprint’s music software, which is slow to load and has limited features. It does, however, provide you access to Sprint’s music store, where you can purchase a wide variety of songs for a reasonable 99 cents each. Battery life while playing back music is good at almost 14 hours. You will want to invest in a Micro SD card, with capacities up to 4GB supported, if you choose to use the M520 as your principal music device.
The Samsung M520’s software interface is generally responsive and easy to use. We particularly appreciate the system wide support for keypad shortcuts, as this makes getting around much faster. If you want to browse the web on the M520 we recommend you get the free Opera Mini browser, as the built-in web browser is very poor. The M520 does support Sprint’s high-speed EVDO network for fast download speeds.
The M520 has an excellent keypad for typing; we were able to manage an impressive 48.2 words per minute in our test, significantly better than average. Those who like text messaging will appreciate this solid performance, although the actual messaging software is nothing special. The M520 isn’t a good choice for those who want a mobile device to handle e-mail, however, as e-mail access is provided via web access rather than a built-in client.
One nice feature the M520 has that you don’t often see on entry-level handsets is support for GPS. Using Sprint’s navigator software you can find your location, obtain turn–by-turn directions and generally get around town. We wouldn’t depend on the Samsung M520 for long road trips, however, as you’ll need to be in range of a Sprint cell tower to download maps and information. You’ll also have to pay Sprint for the service, so the M520 won’t replace a standalone GPS unit.
Although we’re quite happy with the M520’s music playback time in our battery tests, we’re less impressed with the other results we obtained. Talk time is 4 hours, below average for handsets and just about the low end of what we would consider acceptable. If you browse the web a lot or download a lot of songs you will also see battery life fall quickly as the M520 lasts only 3 hours and 38 minutes in our browsing test. Those who spend a lot of time on the phone might find the M520’s battery life to be limiting.
The M520 is a solid handset for those looking for an entry-level device. We like the professional good looks, quick interface, and comfortable keypad. The GPS functionality is a nice extra and the M520 can even double as a music player if you can deal with the slow-to-load Sprint music software. The M520 does have its drawbacks, however. We have concerns about the battery life, and the M520’s camera is very poor. That being said, any budget handset has drawbacks and the M520 is a solid value for the price.
[reviews.washingtonpost.com]