Samsung U900 Soul Specifications Sheet

Supported Networks:	GSM 900/1800/1900, GPRS/EDGE class 10, WCDMA 900/2100, HSDPA 3,6 Mbps
Storage:	120 Mb of user memory, microSD slot
Screen:	TFT 2.2", 240х320, 16M, OLED, 1.14", 128x112, 65K
Connectivity:	USB2.0, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR (A2DP is supported)
Camera:	5.0 Mpix (up to 2560 x 1920), AF
Battery:	880 mAh
Dimensions:	105 x 49.5 x 12.9 mm
Guiding price:	€500

The U600 and G600 predating models aren't going to phase out shortly, the starting price for U900 keeping high nevertheless. A certain part the consumers who've got one of those two won't consider the new product as a logical replacement for their current handsets; a certain part will decide in favour of G600, offering similar specifications and partially design at a much lower price. When the price gets down to the stable level of 380-400 euros U900 will become the main offer of the company not only in the fashion-phone segment, but in the cameraphone segment as well, the integrated camera providing a comparable or even better image quality, than other brands' flagships do.

Design, ergonomics

The design of Samsung U900 Soul is very nice; the handset has very solid looks and is pleasant to touch and play with. The body sports a deliberately elongated design leading to a massive feel created to please the male audience, the same effect occurs with G800 (which was actually a bit too thick, not too long). However the Soul is equally becoming to men and women alike, it's very stylish, but at the same time austere and practical. The only objection is raised by an easily soiled surface, but there's nothing to be done about. The concept of two screens perfectly complements the exterior design; the model is very attention-catching. The Samsung Company positions the new gadget as a premium-class solution, not least of all due to the use of metal in the casing design. The U600/U700 predecessors didn't give a feeling that U900 does give. Samsung managed to combine in a single model all the positive characteristics of the other bestsellers: U600, E950 and G600. Figuratively speaking, Samsung U900 is a blend of style, innovations and solid functionality of the user interface and the camera.

Let's compare with Motorola Z10:

Let's compare with LG KF600:

The build quality is traditionally above any ideal, the slider mechanism is absolutely smooth and the play between parts is minimal. It takes a single push of the finger for the sliding part to go the full way automatically. However there's no separate finger rest for opening the slider, the finger rests just above the navigation screen which is touch-sensitive, therefore stray keystrokes take place.

The mostly used material is plastic though the manufacturer puts a strong accent on the metallic casing. Metal is employed for the battery cover, the framing engulfing the screen and the block of functional and numerical keys. Comparing U900 to Nokia 6500 Slide, which by the way, sports a very similar design, let's check out that there is much less metal in U900. The quality of plastic used for the casing is quite on the company's level, it practicality raises no reprimands; it doesn't tend to accumulate fingerprints. The left edge hosts the sound volume rocker button and the headset output covered with a plastic gag. The socket location on the side edge is not too convenient, however it causes no trouble. The camera launch / shoot button is put on the right edge. The memory expansion slot (microSD) is found nearby.

The sound volume buttons have a few settings, for example while receiving an incoming call the buttons can be set to act either as Mute or Reject. The first function just mutes the ringtone while the second drops the call. Unlike Samsung G600, U900 has no text template sending option after the call is rejected but its availability was handy in the former device.

The battery cover is made entirely of metal; the latter is textured (just like with Nokia 6500) and just like the coating of the said handset gets easily scratched from physical contacts with other surfaces. There's nothing to be done, such is the side effect of utilizing metal parts with any device.

The camera unit is placed at the top of the sliding panel; it significantly protrudes outwards due to its big size. This approach seems optimal; once you fold the phone the camera is well-protected against all kinds of physical damage. The LED flashlight is located nearby; it has enough power to help you out in poorly lit environment. Generally speaking, the camera unit is completely the same as that of G600; it follows that the quality of shots stands on the same level.

The handset has a single speaker; it's equally used for transmitting voice and sound. There's no extra polyphonic speaker. Accordingly the sound is not of the highest quality, yields to the models equipped with stereo speakers. The front camera for video calls is put nearby.

Samsung U900 comes with a typical bundling or even less than that. For example, no card is to be found in the sales box. Probably the gadget will be shipped with a Bluetooth headset bundled – this feature is yet to be decided on. The sales package is going to be standard and consist of a wire stereo headset, a battery charger, a software disk and a printed manual. A USB data cable is included but that isn't much of an addition. On the whole the package is a little bit poor for a flagship device.

Keypad

The handset keypad is standard; it is made of a metal plate, flat, however due to their big size, the keys are easy to tap at and nice to type with. The keypad uses a bright white backlight, it's easily visible in all kinds of environment. Unlike in Samsung G600, there is no luminance sensor here.

The block of numericals features two keys new for the handsets by the company. It's a video call key (upon pressing the key the frontal camera gets activated and you are prompted to enter the phone number) and a key of switching between applications. Here we have an obvious parallel with the SonyEricsson devices. A shortcut to the list of applications is in charge of this key, so you can select any of them.

The list is available from any menu or application and consists of the five shortcut icons:

• Call log
• Messages
• Browser
• Music player
• Shut all the running tasks

Thus, switching between applications is implemented in this device; by pressing this key you can switch to one of the offered modes from any item of the main menu. It is possible to keep several applications running at once, however no enhanced task manager is available and the quick access menu cannot be customized. As compared to G800, which is the first step of the company towards multitasking, nothing has changed here. There can be only three processes available in the background; you cannot compare the gadget with those from SonyEricsson.

Touch controls, navigation

The first appearance of a slider sporting two screens happened last year, it turned out to be the E950 Beautiful Technology. The secondary screen in many respects reiterates the implementation of that in E950; it's based off the OLED technology, is 1.14'' large, the resolution and palette are 128x112 and 65K respectively. The screen is protected with a special durable glass resistant to scratching. This element is intended to display a certain set of icons; it plays the role of a navigation button.

Since the times of Е950 the navigation has been improved, the handset is more easy-to-use now; the number of stray strokes is reduced to a minimum. All the active elements are affected by the gradation effect – the active area of an element expands once you press it, which contributes to the ergonomics (for instance, the whole screen becomes devoted to the rewind functions when you're rewinding a track in the player). Such an implementation of the secondary screen's functionality makes the model a winner among comparable solutions. However LG KF600 is already available at retail. This gadget wins when it comes to user themes and games – LG's invention is to exploit the second screen as an addition to the main one, its specifications looking much more advantageous: TFT, 1.49", the resolution of 176x240 and the color palette of 256K. The KF600 screen is of a higher quality and enjoys a much better functionality, though overall ergonomics is worse than what Samsung offers in Soul because of the lower pressure threshold. However such an ascetic approach is easily explained by Samsung's intention to use the second display as a navigation and service panel only (to manage the camera, MP3 player, etc.) in contrast to LG. The implementation of these elements will receive a thorough comparative review on our site in the nearest future.

The two dial and two software buttons aren't of the sensor type, but rather common mechanical ones – in this case it's a plus to the ergonomics. A KF600 would have you to touch your way to the side-positioned button or open the keyboard should you need to look at the clock while Soul takes but a single tap on the specific button.

There a few modes in which it can be functioning. Depending on the currently active application, the screen displays a unique set of symbols which act as control keys for that application. For instance, during standby it shows the standard set of navigation functions: Up - My Menu, Down - Google Search, Right - mp3 player, Left - Start Message. Of course, all of this can be customized and remapped, and the action icons displayed will change accordingly. Unlike a navigation button, such a screen always lets you know for sure what action will follow pressing a certain action icon.

In the menu, the application icons are replaced with the navigation symbols and the OK button is shown in the center. The Calculator applications accordingly displays the icons of the basic math operation, the mp3 players shows the playback control symbols, the same goes for the FM tuner, voice recorder, the camera application, the alarm clock and so on. Each of these action icons features a unique pressing animation, once you touch an element it slightly increases in size and an audio signal is played - all of this is meant to prevent stray keystrokes.

In essence, that's an enhanced version of the regular touchscreen controls, moved to a separate touch panel and embracing every possible navigation function. Definitely, you'll have to face a short learning curve while getting used to this unusual feature, even if you are pretty much acquainted with the touch controls of the said U600, but on the whole we weren't able to spot any serious issues on this side. Of course, some people won't stand such a system of controls, and some are sure to adore it. We should pay a lot respect to all the work and smart planning carried out by Samsung engineers - the sensors provide high sensibility and accurate response, the percentage of stray keystrokes is very low indeed.

The settings include an option of deactivating vibration when touch controls are pressed, as well as the three levels of its intensity. Besides, there are three rates of the touchscreen sensitivity; everything can be customized to your liking. Samsung endowed their U900 with the ability implemented by Nokia in the 7900 Prism: selecting the color of backlight from a great number of variants. You can change the color and color intensity of icons displayed on the navigation screen.

Screen

The gadget sports a screen with a 2.2'' diagonal (32x46 mm), the matrix is build based off the TFT technology and is able of displaying up to 262 thousand colors. The resolution is quite traditional, namely being 240x320 pixels. This stands for approximately 12 lines of text simultaneously visible on the screen. There is no luminance sensor here, the screen and keypad backlighting being adjusted manually (six positions are available).

The screen has a mirror-plated substrate that resists the sunlight so the information remains legible, though because of the mirror coating the colors on the screen tend to get much distorted, the screen glares. The matrix quality is high - one of the best among the similar products, the colours are natural, the brightness is up to high standard and only the thick "mercury" protective glass spoils the matter.

The screen fonts, as usual, are easily legible and optimized for the device's display. The phone numbers are shown in large symbols, no problem arise here. The settings include the font style customization as well as (for the standard font) its color, size and the background color.

Battery

The handset makes use of a Li-Ion battery with a standard capacity of 800 mAh. There's no support for any enhanced battery types for this model. Traditionally enough the firmware charge saving OPUS technology is implemented here, giving the battery a few extra percent of saved charge. It really goes like that; the results are perceptible, though not so considerable to pay attention to the difference.

U900 is able to survive for a bit less than two days of moderately extensive usage (about an hour of talktime, up to two hours of listening to the music and the radio, another hour of application and menu interaction); the result is quite up to the modern standards. Few users are going to be dissatisfied with it. However the majority of modern music devices, especially by SonyEricsson, allow for a much longer battery life during the multimedia cycle.

The battery of Samsung U900 Soul

	Samsung U900 Soul	Samsung G800
Moderate usage	2 days	2 days
Multimedia-cycle, video (3GP)	3:280	3:06
Multimedia-cycle, audio (MP3)	13:56	10:40

A full recharge cycle takes two hours and a half. Continuous music cycle wastes the Samsung U900 battery charge over about 14 hours, that's a good result for a slim product.

Connectivity

Samsung U900 is a three-band device (GSM900 /1800/1900); it supports a full Class 10 EDGE, as well as 3G networks (WCDMA 2100) and HSDPA (the Qualcomm MSM6280 chipset). In other words, as regards communications the gadget quite meets all modern requirements.

The wireless communication is represented by the Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR unit. It gives raise to no reprimands, the data transfer rate coming up to 140 Kbps. Unfortunately, like with all 3G models based off the Qualcomm chipset there is no support for a local installation of Java applications, that is the programs can be downloaded only via Bluetooth. The .jar and .jad installation files placed in the phone memory cannot be installed. The Bluetooth options include the activation status (whether it is turned on or off), the list of visible Bluetooth devices, the Bluetooth visibility status of the phone itself, the device name and miscellaneous settings. The Bluetooth service includes a standard set of features. Unlike Samsung G600 and E950, U900 doesn't sport an enhanced A2DP support allowing for two Bluetooth stereo headsets to be used simultaneously with the same phone.

The stereo headset (A2DP) proved to be a reliable accessory, the only minor flaw being a negligible lack of volume. The following list of profiles is supported:

• Dial Up Networking Profile
• File Transfer Profile
• Generic Access Profile
• Service Discovery Application Profile
• Headset Profile
• Handsfree (Car Kit) Profile
• Generic Object Exchange Profile (OBEX)
• Object Push Profile
• File Transfer Profile
• Basic Printing Profile
• Audio Vdieo Remote Control Profile
• Advanced Audio Distribution Profile
• Enhanced Data Rate
• Dual Profile Bluetooth (Voice & Data)
• vNote

The wire connection is achieved through USB 2.0, but the data transfer speed is not the highest. On the other hand the phone sports full and correct support of Modem Connection mode as well as Mass Storage, Media Player and Samsung PC Studio modes. The corresponding menu lets the user to set one of those as a default connection type or ask for choice every time a phone-to-PC connection is established.

Performance

The performance of Samsung U900 is traditionally low. It's practically the same as that of the F330 and G800 predecessors. Besides, the Java performance isn't perfectly implemented; 3D profiles are supported, but there is no hardware acceleration. The handset makes use of a Qualcomm MSM6280 chipset and not an NXP one as many other models from the Suwon R&D center do. This doesn't affect performance, not that it is perceptible in a daily usage.

	Samsung F330	Samsung U900	Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte
Jbenchmark 1.0.1 Score	1141	1329	1754
Text	278	310	405
2D Shapes	271	314	408
3D Shapes	198	243	318
Fill Rate	102	134	199
Animation	292	328	424
Jbenchmark 2.0.1 Score	124	152	304
Image Manipulations	147	179	251
Text	130	172	362
Sprites	119	157	404
3D Transform	112	130	389
User Interface	112	129	181
Jbenchmark 3D HQ	145	187	129
Jbenchmark 3D LQ	163	211	254
Triangles ps	15363	18919	32251
KTexels ps	1492	1771	1314
Jbenchmark HD Gaming Score	98 (3,3 fps)	131 (4,4 fps)	110 (3,7 fps)
Smooth triangles	34096	41491	62390
Textured triangles	21941	27654	50171
Fill rate, KTexels	559	716	1543

The heap size equals to 2,2 Mb, the maximum Jar size - 300 Kb.

Themes

In the 3G device from the Korean manufacturer we see the first ever full-blown support for user interface themes. You know, only G600 could boast of this feature until recently while E950 was restricted to no-editor theme support. As for the rest, those (as well as even the flagship G800 cameraphone) were merely limited to two basic color schemes - black and white (or violet). As we have already mentioned, the quality of themes implementation deserves admiration, the user is even able to create custom themes right from a basic menu, without having to resort to a specific application which is often a must for the same functionality in devices by other brands. Don't you agree, it's the extremely convenient and in much greater demand, since many users don't have the time or skill to install such kind of specific theme design software to their PC, often limiting themselves to the use of existing themes available for download from the web?

So, the handset sports a special Theme Wizard that provides for a vast number of options. To be more precise, there are two wizards: simple and expert. The usual allows you to select a pattern, a color scheme and the theme is ready; as for the enhanced one, it makes almost every user interface parameter customizable. Let's enumerate the basic steps:

• Background (any picture including templates and photos)
• Background color, fill and opacity
• List font color
• Fill color
• Selection color
• Highlighted menu item color
• Pop-up font color
• Pop-up background color
• Icon type and borders

You can also customize the scrollbar color, the color of miscellaneous screen fonts and so on. This freedom of customization is the fruit of long and effortful labor of the software developers; the quality of this work becomes evident at once and concerns not only the user themes but the interface on the whole. Once a created theme is saved, it can be applied.

Samsung U900 has a total of three pre-installed themes, each being interesting. This reminds of some interface elements found in SonyEricsson phones, where flash-themes are utilized, sporting a great variety of animated elements. Unfortunately this feature isn't available for user-created themes; all the icons are displayed only in the traditional way in that case.

All the devices based off the new software platform, including G400, enjoy similar interface and theme wizard.

User interface

Let's dwell on the basic aspects of the U900 user interface. Following the wake of D900, the company again implements the Living World embedded interface plugin. Once the phone identifies its geographical location, it displays a corresponding desktop wallpaper (Kremlin for Russia and so on, including the Sydney Opera House, the Golden Gate Bridge of San Francisco, the Big Ben of London and the Eiffel Tower of Paris) The wallpaper displays a set of symbolical animations indicating the time, quality of signal and incoming calls or messages - the wallpapers switches between the day and night versions, the sky gets overcast with clouds when the signal level gets low, fireworks can be seen once you get a unread message or miss a call. If you are out of the mobile network area, you see a green lawn among hills. Little of a novelty, yet this feature is strictly exclusive to Samsung products.

The Living World screen (uWorld) is not a default one for the models supporting user interface themes; the screen background is taken from the theme and you may activate it in the settings.

It goes without saying you can pick any picture for wallpaper instead of the Living World screen, almost anything like a photo taken with the camera. The calendar cannot be set to be used as the wallpaper during the standby mode; an option like that is excluded. But on the other hand there is rather an interesting feature, called My Screen, which allows you to create animated wallpaper. The matter is that you choose from one up to nine pictures, photos, the effect to be applied and the shot change rate. During the standby mode the chosen pictures replace each other; one of the following effects is applied:

• Butterfly
• Paper plane
• Cherry blossom
• Bamboo

Besides, several picture change modes are available: rolling-up, replacing, moving aside and others. It looks attractive, slightly reminding of the multimedia menu background implementation in Nokia N95.

During the standby mode an analogue clock can be set to be shown, big enough and all the data is clearly seen from the distance. Up to two clocks corresponding to two different timezones can be shown on the screen simultaneously, the clock indicating the time of your city of residence being of a larger size.

The status line shows all the main indicators of the currently running processes and active modules - Bluetooth, music player, current profile, web connection, battery charge, local network status and so on, once you open a menu all the icons go a line lower, and stay visible all the same.

In the standby mode, the info shown on the screen (carrier name, currently playing track, event information) can be visually represented in a number of ways depending on the currently selected settings in the corresponding menu – it's possible to customize font color, style (for example, with a shadow) and alignment - bottom, top or center.

The font style in the dialing mode is also customizable as well as size, color and numerical symbol style, the former two parameters being active only for the standard font presentation. However the preset figure types are more attractive - as one of the available variants the symbols traced with a fountain pen on notebook pages are offered, the corresponding animation being present. Besides the font customization, you can also set the background color for the call number window; almost everything here can be adjusted to your own liking, since Samsung phones have long been known for their strong positions in the field of user customization features, which is evidently a customer attracting factor.

As we have already mentioned, the My Menu implementation in this device differs from that of Samsung G600. The quick access menu cannot be customized; it is called by pressing a special key. It's quite to advantage that the list can be activated from any item of the main menu, not only during the standby mode.

Audio profiles

The support for sound profile is a pleasant feature of Samsung U900. There are six profiles available, but the user cannot add custom ones though the preinstalled list of six profiles is more than enough for the phone to be handy, the existing profiles can be customized. The profile creation mode is quite simple, but that doesn't mean a lack of options. There are three main groups of settings - Call settings, SMS settings and Misc sounds settings.

The Call settings include the signal type (a lot of variants here - ringtone only, vibration only, ringone and vibration, vibration followed by the ringtone and vice versa, ringtone fade-in with or without vibration and so on), the ringtone itself is also set here as well as the volume of sound and the number of times the melody is replayed.

The SMS settings are much simpler, only three types of signal can be chosen: vibro, sound, or vibro + sound. An .mp3 file can be used as the incoming message signal as well as in a new G600 firmware update. Miscellaneous sound settings include the keypad button sound, the power on/off sound and some minor service sounds.

Switching between profiles is only possible via the main menu, there's no separate button for switching profiles. The Mute mode is toggled by holding the # key; the activated profile icon is displayed in the status line.

Main Menu

The main menu can be either set to show as the traditional icons tab or as a list with each icon hosting a pop-up menu listing its sublevel functions (this option can be turned off if you get annoyed with the crowding pop-up windows).

The navigation features the recently introduced 'user action memory' function found in the newer Samsung models - the phone keeps track of user actions and opens every menu at the menu item that was last activated. Fast menu navigation is possible through numerical keys; the icons and the process of changing the screens are animated. But as compared to G600, the effects aren't customizable - upon activating a menu or a submenu item the previous screen just slides sideways, giving way to the new information on the analogy of Nokia 5610 XpressMusic.

The main menu consists of twelve items, besides there is an item variation from phone to phone, by arrangement as well as their presence.

• Call log
• Phonebook
• Multimedia
• Browser
• Messages
• My files
• Calendar
• Camera
• Entertainment
• Applications
• Alarms
• Settings

Among the few drawbacks of menu implementation is the lack of possibility to swap the menu item positions and the order of submenu items, there is no way to create new groups and icons either, there are no complaints in the rest.

Call service

The phonebook is called by pressing the right soft-button or via the main menu. The list contains phone numbers from the phone memory as well as from the SIM-card (a customizable item – it can be set to show only the phone memory or the SIM-card numbers). Every contact is given a small picture if the one is fixed or a preset icon. Filtering by the initial name letters is possible (up to 50 symbols). If several phone numbers are associated with a single contact, only the main one is displayed in the contact headline (mobile phone number by default).

A name, a surname and two phone numbers (a mobile phone number and a home number) can be associated with a newly created or edited account as well as an e-mail address, a short note, an individual ringtone and a call picture. Any picture, photo or preset icon can be used for that. The call picture is large, practically taking the whole screen. Similarly to G800, it's possible to add necessary items. One can set up to 35 items in all, 10 being initially preset. The list of items to be added contains the following ones:

• Mobile number (personal, work)
• Home number (personal, work)
• Fax
• Other
• Videocall number
• E-mail
• WEB page address
• Group (a contact can belong to several groups)
• Message signal (individual)
• Nickname
• Birthday date
• Company
• Position
• Address (personal, work)

When giving a contact more than one phone number, the user can specify which number is to be used as the default one for making calls and sending messages. It is just an advance towards any smartphone's book of contacts, the account items cannot be renamed and moved here, a quantity limit is present.

When setting the birthday date, the phone automatically offers to mark the event in the calendar, give the event a name and set the alarm clock to warn you in advance of the upcoming birthday.

The phonebook memory can store up to 1000 contacts, each containing all the associated phone numbers. The user groups are supported; three groups are preset – family, friends, and work. All of the three groups being customizable, i.e. you can rename them or create your own ones. A unique ringtone and picture (or icon) can be associated with each group. A group can contain up to 20 contacts. All the contacts as well as the namecard can be sent via SMS, MMS, E-mail or Bluetooth to another person. The quick dial list can contain up to 8 numbers, everything is standard here. The list shows only the person's name and surname which might be a bit inconvenient if that person has several numbers and only a picture if it is associated with the contact.

Other miscellaneous options include the possibility to choose the storage location for the newly saved contacts - the SIM card or the phone memory (or set it to be asked for each time the user saves a contact), sorting all the contacts by name (Display as), but there is no template choice (Name+Surname or vice versa) here.

The call log keeps track of all the recent received, dialed and missed calls. Up to 30 records of each call type are stored. The call log can be either displayed as a common list with each call type having an indication icon or three separate lists for each call type. Switching between the lists is done by pressing the navigation button left and right, this aspect sharing the same approach as we saw in Nokia and SonyEricsson phones. The number of times that the specified number has been dialed is shown in brackets next to it. The stats tab contains info about the cost and number of incoming and outgoing calls as well as the length and cost of the most recent call.

Samsung U900 has a blacklist which supports adding undesirable contacts both one by one or even by a whole group. The latter function is a unique Samsung feature (in the sense of a manufacturer-preset function); its usefulness can't be underestimated. It was very nice of Samsung to include this function as a standard function embedded into the firmware.

Messaging

The handset traditionally employs a combined messaging system - the phone automatically defines the message type depending on its content. The phone memory can store up to 500 SMS messages + the SIM card memory. Up to 20 recipients can be defined for every outgoing message; up to 12 messages can be glued together in a single one. Sound, vibration and backlighting signals are available for warning the user of an incoming message. EMS is supported. The MMS memory is limited to 300 messages the multimedia content of which must not exceed the free user memory. The messaging interface supports a separate blacklist. The text message settings are minimal; they include only the text reply, the delivery notice and saving the copies of outgoing messages. Older messages cannot be automatically purged; there is also no feature to set the text style. No SOS message option is available.

There's a separate recent contacts list for text messages. Once you are about to send a text message, the phone displays this list of recently contacted people so you can instantly choose one of them as the recipient of the current message. The other option is to use the phonebook to select the recipient. A message can be dispatched either to a single person or to a whole contacts group. The number of recipients is indicated near the icon to the left from the contact name in the contact line.

Upon starting a new message the user is free to set the font size (large, medium and small), colour and style (bold, italic). The same settings can be applied exclusively to a selected piece of text within a message. Possible attachment types include an image, a video clip, a calendar note (up to four task types plus a phone card) and a sound. Once a multimedia attachment is detected, the text message is automatically converted into an MMS. The photo and video attachments can be quickly selected from the gallery or instantly taken right with the camera without having to quit the image editor.

The following e-mail protocols are supported:

POP3	+
IMAP4	+
SMTP	+
SSL	+ (3.0)
TLS	+ (1.0)
OTA E-Mail Settings Configuration	+
Push E-mail	EMN OMA 1.0

The maximum size of an outgoing message can't exceed 300 Kb. The maximum number of e-mail accounts is five. There are the interesting functions of auto e-mail checking at user-defined intervals, sending the reading notices and the e-mail downloading mode - headers only or whole messages. The mail download limit is 500 Kb; an automatic delete is also present here. Deleted messages can be kept saved at the mail server if the user wishes so. All types of attachments readable by the phone itself or by the Document Viewer are supported. The viewer starts right here and when the file viewing is completed the application shuts, leaving the editor running. E-mail settings include a blocking option similar to the one used for messages and for the contacts book. The difference is that the user is allowed to blacklist specified e-mail addresses as well as header phrases to block spam.

The multimedia messaging system (OMA 1.2) limits the maximum size of a multimedia message to the usual 300 Kb. Up to 20 recipients can be specified per message; maximum text length is limited to 1000 symbols. The MMS setup includes the priority, the expiry date and the delivery time (from one hour up to one week and the time fixed by the user). An MMS message limit makes from 30 up to 300 Kb. The auto resize mode to the given limit can be switched on. According to the settings, the message type can be set either freely depending on the size of the created message or strictly limited - should the image exceed the limit, it's automatically modified to fit. When inserting an object, its actual size is specified, and an already composed MMS message can be previewed prior to sending.

Besides the listed options the MMS messages can have their font size (large, medium and small), colour and style (bold, italic, etc) adjusted in the same manner as SMS messages, the same goes to background color and message viewing mode, the latter option is set to Fullscreen by default. The automatic deletion function is absent for the MMS messages. SMIL is supported - the maximum number of pages and objects inside a message equals to 15 and 35 respectively.

PIM

The Personal Information Manager includes a standard set of applications like calendar, alarm clocks and quick notes. Up to six alarm clocks can be set, the first one named Wake Up alarm. Each of the alarm clocks can be flexibly tuned, schedule is fully supported (the days of the week are chosen); the alarm signal can be replayed at a user-defined interval. The alarm turns on even if the phone is turned off. Each alarm clock can be given a unique title and adjusted to play a unique song, including .mp3 files or turning on the radio. Much like the sound profiles, the alarm clocks support a variety of signal types - ringtone only, vibration and ringtone, vibration followed by a ringtone, fade-in ringtone with or without vibration and so one. Once an alarm clock is adjusted and activated, a short info on that alarm's settings is instantly shown on the screen, everything being more than evident.

The calendar has a few viewing options: by month, by week or by day. The schedule can include up to 240 records (on the whole as well as for one day). Preliminary notices and recurring event signals are supported. Sorting events by type is well-implemented (meetings, anniversaries, tasks). A day that hosts a specified event is indicated by a colored corner, the color corresponding to the event type shown in the status line (meetings, anniversaries, tasks and so on).

The default view mode is set in the options, as well as the starting day of the week (Monday or Sunday). Memory manager is in its place, indicating the number of used and free event slots in the calendar memory. Expired events are deleted manually or purged automatically after a period of time.

All the necessary event parameters are specified right away on adding a new event - date, beginning and end time, the alarm activation time in case an alarm signal is associated with an event and the interval at which an alarm signal is replayed. The total amount of events, as noted above, equals to 240, that's 100 are reserved for meetings, 50 for anniversaries and holidays each and 20 for personal and important events each.

As we have already mentioned in the phone book description, the Birthday line associated with every contact is automatically added to the calendar as an Anniversary-type event, the user is asked to set a reminder, specify the day and the time when the alarm must be activated. So you won't miss your grandmother's birthday, and the preliminary warning will remind you to buy a present beforehand. This calendar option is really handy.

Multimedia, mp3 player, radio

Samsung aren't positioning the U900 model as a musical solution; however the gadget traditionally makes use of a dedicated sound amplifier based on the patented technology by Bang&Olufsen, providing for an excellent sound quality, high volume, reduced power consumption in playback mode. The sound chip was dubbed ICEpower Mobile; it is employed practically in all the Samsung models of the high and medium price segments, which makes them rank among the leaders of sound quality. The models lacking ICEpower Mobile and released before Ultra Edition Series II (the said D900) provide for a worse quality and not so high volume; thus, the utilization of this technology is more than justified.

During the playback the screen displays info including the track title and the name of performer, the album cover (thanks to the Album Arts function), the playbar (the progressive rewind mode is supported) and all sorts of indicators showing the on/off status of different player settings.

Background mode is supported, the settings include:

• Playback settings (repeat and shuffle),
• Sound output via a wireless stereo Bluetooth headset,
• Add to playlist (one, several or all created),
• Ratings system (from 1 to 5 or unrated),
• Setting a song as a ringtone or alarm signal,
• Equalizer (sound effect) presets. The device sports 9 sound effects in total. Once activated, each changes the sound quite noticeably. The effects are not customizable. There is no support for custom equalizer presets either.
• Types of visualization (1 - album cover, 2 - album cover and graphic equalizer, 3 - graphic equalizer only).

Any track can be sent via MMS, E-mail or Bluetooth. Flight Mode is supported (the phone's GSM unit switched off), which helps to save battery charge however it's inaccessible without a SIM card, which is a minor flaw. No additional visualization adjustments are available except the old effects known by G600.

In the background mode, the player window is automatically minimized to a small box of a user-defined color and style showing the track name and the playbar. The player is managed with the navigation panel that displays corresponding icons. The options include sorting tracks by performer, title, genre, recently played tracks, most frequently played tracks and so on.

The following multimedia formats are supported by the Korean new gadget:

• MP3
• WMA
• Polyphonic
• AMR (Voice Tag)
• AAC
• AAC+
• e-AAC+
• i-Melody
• Midi (SMF)
• SP-Midi

The device provides for a high quality of sound (the firmware 3,5 mm jack adapter with a Reply button, for example, from the G600 or F330 sales package, suits U900 perfectly). During the MP3 playback cycle the device is able to stay up for about 14 hours without recharging. The player interface is quite convenient, so the handset can act as a good music phone and taking into account such a parameter as the quality sound, it may be considered excellent.

The FM-radio implementation is typical of Samsung products, all the standard functions like search and autosearch are in their places as well as manual tuning and things like that. The specified frequency can be added to the channels list and associate a name with the station. The saved stations can be further deleted, renamed or set to be activated as an alarm clock signal.

Tuning is performed by finger-rotating a circle that is shown on the screen, everything is more than evident. The station memory can contain up to 99 stations, RDS is supported. Sound output can be configured both for the headset or the embedded speaker. The FM tuner as well as the MP3 player can stay fully functional during the standby mode. The reception quality is high and raises no objections. But Samsung G600 possessed the enhanced ability to record radio broadcasts. There is no such function here, everything is simple.

Preinstalled Software Package

The handset comes with a standard variety of preinstalled applications. We have already reviewed some part of it (or are going to review shortly: we set aside Image and Video Editor for the review of integrated camera capabilities of Samsung U900). Now let's dwell on some other features.

The voice recorder application found in U900 has a nice and easy to use interface, but it's functionally simple. The maximum voice record length can be limited to fit the maximum MMS length or to one hour, the recorded file can be saved either to phone user memory or a memory expansion card. The record volume and the record name are set by the user. Unfortunately the voice recorder is unable to record phone talks, but the exterior sound source records turn out fine. No reprimands on this side.

The world clock function is quite standard and allows for displaying two timezones and corresponding cities on the world map.

There are several pre-installed games; they are all traditional for the company devices:

The integrated calculator displays a good functionality; it can handle both basic operations as well as complicated mathematical functions like sines and cosines. The basic math functions are carried out by pressing the icons on the navigation screen. The calculation result can be immediately transferred to the measures converted should such necessity arise. The measure converter can handle and convert all kinds of currencies, measures of length, weight, volume, area and temperature.

The timer and the stopwatch are quite typical of most phones, nothing to talk about.

Google Search

The Google Search function found among other menu items, quite accordingly with its name offering a Google search capability as well as used for opening the browser application (Access NetFront v3.4, the same browser used in most Samsung devices) and accessing the mail server. Everything is quite clear. The browser sports a good variety of functions and settings including:

• Page Format (small, medium, large)
• Page Pilot (a mini-map helping navigating through large web pages)
• Page Address Copy
• Saving images from the page or saving the whole page
• Cache and cookies settings (cache size is 2 Mb)

Miscellaneous settings include options to allow for Java scripts launching, playing audio files and viewing images, as well as the fast view mode - the Smart-Fit technology forces the text and images to fit the screen in a fashion that allows for a more comfortable browsing. It's possible to browse web pages using both portrait and landscape orientation, the latter variant retains the same options.

The browser supports a vast majority of data types and languages:

• WML Ver. 1,3
• WML Script Ver. 2.0
• ECMA Script
• xHTML
• xHTML-MP Ver. 1.0
• cHTML
• HTML Ver. 4.0.1

Camera, Image and Video editing, Gallery

Right now we are going to dwell on the camera capabilities of Samsung U900 separately; the quality of pictures is on an average level, comparable to Sony Ericsson K850i and inferior to Nokia N82, N95, but it's all right for a slim fashion phone. Besides the good quality of photos in general, the powerful Image and Video Editor is worth mentioning. We'll give a detailed examination of all this in the following part of the review. Samsung U900 deathmatch with Nokia N82 – the comparison of photo-oriented mass models from the same price segment will be available on our site soon.

Samsung U900 camera review, comparisson with Nokia N82

Market Perspectives

Samsung U900 Soul is the best offer of the company in the segment of fashion-phones. The handset enjoys not only excellent appearance - metallic panels, a slim ergonomic casing, but also a powerful soft- and hardware platform. User interface innovations are pleasant; they greatly improve visual impression and bring the company's flagship up to the corresponding level, making it superior to the predecessors such as G800 and F330, based off the same hardware platform (the Qualcomm MSM6280 chipset). The extra touch screen playing the part of a navigation button not only endows the gadget with a powerful 'charge of image', but is comfortable in everyday use and sports high capabilities.

Naturally enough, every handset has its own flaws. In the case of U900 let's note a low volume of the polyphonic speaker (it's also used for transmitting voice); the screen doesn't look well in the sunlight because of the thick and much glaring protective glass, it's difficult to see the screen information. The battery cover easily gets worn and scratched; it's standard for all devices with metallic elements of the body.

The U900 camera is a good addition to the other features of the handset, which has practically no direct competitors in the class of slim fashion products. It's not difficult to understand that in the majority of cases the quality of pictures yields to powerful cameraphones such as Nokia N82 or Samsung G800, but is quite comparable to the said Sony Ericsson k850i. A detailed review of the U900 camera capabilities and integrated editing functionalities in comparison with the N82 photo flagship by Nokia is coming in the nearest future.

The U900 market perspectives are bright enough; the model is going to become one of the most remarkable offers in the 450-500 euro price bracket, not least of all due to the aggressive marketing promotion. The device isn't going to have any direct competitors on the day of its market entry (the release date is planned for the middle of April); among indirect ones let's mention Sony Ericsson C902 - a fashion Cyber-shot handset implemented in the slim metallic casing but basing on the candy bar form-factor, LG KF600 - similar to U900 because of the two-screen concept and the yet unannounced Nokia E66 - a slim fashion slider in the metallic casing with an enhanced connectivity set (Wi-Fi, GPS). An article spotlighting the deathmatch against LG KF600 will be also available on our site this week.

Samsung U900 Soul doesn't lay claim to the competition with premium-segment models represented mainly by the 8800 series from Nokia; it's a high-quality fashion phone and no more than that. The well-balanced set of features and excellent software implementation are to the handset's advantage; the device is an excellent choice in its price category.

SMAPE's Opinion

Samsung U900 is a high-quality fashion phone sporting a thin, highly ergonomical casing, considerable functionality and a quality 5 Mpix camera outpacing many competing offers. It's an excellent replacement for its U600/U700 predecessor and an alternative to the simpler G600.

+ High-quality materials
+ Excellent camera
+ Powerful software platform
+ Andy controls, navigation screen
- Screen info isn't quite legible in direct sunlight
- Low-volume speaker
- Mediocre Java implementation, low performance

Author: Spiridonov Anton, editor@smape.com

SMAPE.com

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