February 22nd, 2007
Samsung X820 review: Just for the record
6.9 mm - this is how thin the slimmest mobile phone in the world is. At the same time Samsung X820 offers rich features, a comfortable keypad, and a brilliant display. Even so, it remains just a bit from real perfection.
We live in a world defined by categories as the biggest, the most beautiful, the smartest… and everyone is trying to outperform the others… Well, it seems that the Korean manufacturer Samsung has managed to do so in the mobile world by creating the slimmest mobile phone ever - Samsung X820. The profile of this device will amaze you, believe me.
The competition among handset manufacturers about who would launch the slimmest mobile phone was first run - unintentionally probably - by Motorola and its first Razr model (13.9 mm thick), which provoked great astonishment among users. And a new trend was born. Razr was followed by the slimmer SLVR L7 model (12 mm thick). The new Samsung X820, however, is so slim, that the entire competition has been moved to a completely different - far higher, or should I say “slimmer” - level. Its 6.9 mm deserve a special attention and that’s what it’s going to get in this review.
Black is cool
It seems that Samsung designers have become sick of silver… It was not long ago when we wrote about how identical Samsung clamshells were due to the silver nuance their creators would continuously use on them, while praising at the same time the chic black elements on the E300 model. Now silver is gone… and black rules. Not a bad decision, btw.
The only non-black elements on Samsung X820 are the silver band on the top, the manufacturer’s logo, and the white legends of the keys. Samsung X820 could hardly be described as extravagant, exceptional, or very attractive. Due to its 113 x 50 mm and its slightly rounded contours, its front looks pretty common.
The real magic comes at the moment when you grab Samsung X820 and feel it in your palm. On one hand, its 7 mm astonish; on the other, however, they raise fears as to how solid such a thin body could be. As we were provided with one copy of the phone only, we did not dare to test Samsung X820’s constructional limits. Nevertheless, I can assure you that the phone has an excellent construction. It is solid and all elements fit in perfectly. Neither the phone in general, nor the subtle battery cover gave out a single creak during the tests. At the same time it is necessary to say that the Samsung X820’s body carries no steel reinforcements. All parts are elaborated of plastics, a fact proven by the weight of the phone - 66 grams. If we were to test how solid the phone is, we would have probable had to sit on it pretending to have forgotten it in someone’s back-pocket. I bet it would have endured.
On the right side of Samsung X820 you will find the camera shortcut button as well as a connector for both the earphones and the charger. The latter is protected by a rubber cap fastened to the phone body and thus hard to lose. The dual volume-control button is situated on the left. The top area of the rear side of the phone is somewhat thicker as it is here where the camera lens is integrated.
In the bottom, beneath the plastic cover, you will see a Li-Po battery with a capacity of 800 mAh (it might come with 630 mAh battery in other markets). If you spare Samsung X820 extensive use, it will repay you with almost 3-day battery cycle. If you mean to make use of all its functions, it will probably ask you for a dose of energy every second day or so.
To my opinion, the Korean manufacturer has forgotten to implant one pretty important element in Samsung X820, that is, an eyelet for hanging the phone around one’s neck. In any case, Samsung X820 is a stylish, even if not so extravagant handset, which deserves to be publicly demonstrated.
A major part of all mobile phones feature vertically orientated displays. Samsung, however, has decided not to compile with this common trend and has equipped its X820 model with a horizontal display. The first Samsung mobile to feature a horizontal display was the smart phone i320. The next one, after X820, is the P300. I myself appreciate this decision as landscape displays resemble TV displays, computer screens, and multimedia players. So why should they not appear in mobile phones as well? What’s more, the landscape display makes reading messages and browsing WAP pages far easier.
Samsung X820 display has a resolution of 220 x 176 pixels and a 262K color definition. Like most Samsung displays the one of X820 is classy and deserves a special compliment: colors are deep; contrast and brightness are tuned brilliantly. My only remark here refers to visibility under direct sunlight, which in the case of Samsung X820 is rather poor due to the glossy cover layer. In order to read the displayed content, turn the handset so that it reflects a solid surface.
The display goes out a few moments after you lock the keypad,. In such case both time and state details remain invisible. To illuminate the display (even if keypad is locked) simply press a random key on the keypad.
Brilliant keypad
As Samsung X820 is the slimmest, but not the narrowest or the shortest, its keypad has been mounted on plenty of space on the front cover. Numeric keys are pretty big, but extremely flat in order to keep phone’s profile as slim as possible. Nevertheless, typing is more than comfortable thanks to the relative bulging of the keys, press feedback is 100% precise, and response is prompt.
The mark I give to the main button in the middle of the controller is not so high though. The “i” key alone is due some criticism since a WAP browser that can be run directly from the stand-by mode is only a appropriate decision only if you are on a flat data plan. To avoid paying for data transfers caused by incidental use of the key I recommend you to set up two profiles - a full one and a non-functional one. This way you will be able to select the right one, whenever it is necessary, while pressing the key by accident won’t harm your budget.
The central key is more or less the only true drawback in Samsung X820’s otherwise superb control navigation. Press orientation could have been more precise if this key had been made slightly higher than surrounding keys, for example. In the dark, the keypad is illuminated in white-greenish light, which can be de/activated from the menu. If you prefer to save energy, you may want to set backlights to light up in pre-determined intervals, from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. for example.
When you start typing on Samsung X820’s keypad, you will probably come to agree with me that slimness is here to attract attention rather than facilitate phone use. When keys in the right column are to be pressed, one has to either unnaturally curve their thumb, or simply lean the handset against their fingers, which, however, leads to quite an unstable handhold. If you do not trust me, grab any common mobile phone placed nearby and you will immediately feel the difference.
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