 In my review of the Samsung R225, I stated I didn't want my next phone to have a color screen. That was still true when I bought this phone, but unfortunately, it just was not possible to buy a phone with a black and white screen anymore. So I purchased the Samsung SGH-E315, which not only has a color screen, but a built-in camera as well.
The e315, as it is commonly called, is a nice compact phone with internal and external color displays. The screens are clear and well-lit, though they are both difficult to read in direct sunlight (which is one of the reasons I liked the black and white screen on my old Samsung). The external display provides caller ID when someone calls your phone and even displays a picture of the caller if you have taken a photo of them with the included camera. However, it stretches the image a little, which is unnecessary and a little annoying.
The phone's built-in camera maxes out at only 640x480 pixels, so don't plan on using any of the photos you take as a desktop background on your computer. It does a surprisingly good job of automatically adjusting the exposure for different lighting situations, but the quality is still far from that of any decent digital camera. The color of the photos is a bit muted and the images are noisy. Still, the pictures work great for photo caller ID and the phone has a nice feature that lets you take a picture and immediately save it as a caller ID photo. There is no USB connection on the e315, so you can't transfer the pictures directly to your computer, but you can at least e-mail the pictures, which is a roundabout way of accomplishing the same thing.
The best thing about the Samsung e315 is the interface. It is well-designed and very intuitive. Menu options are where you expect them to be and the buttons are laid out well. The phone has a plethora of options including customizing the background, changing different tones, modifying the backlight timer, and changing the menu layout. Working through the menus and customizing the settings was easier than I expected it to be. The 4-way button above the numeric keypad provides easy navigation and the button in the middle intuitively functions as an "OK" button as long as you are not viewing the desktop background, in which case it provides access to T-zones.
When the phone is closed, the screen goes blank after a few seconds to conserve battery life. However, you can still view the time on the external screen by holding the up/down button on the left side of the phone for more than a second. This is a convenient feature, since you don't have to open the phone just to check the time. However, it would be nice if you could tap the up/down button to change the ring volume instead of having to go through the menus to modify it. There is also a camera button on the right side of the phone that provides quick access the to the camera features while the phone is open. If the phone is closed, you can hold the button down for a little over a second and the camera is activated, using the external display as the monitor. Quickly pressing the camera button takes a photo. This is a great feature if you like taking pictures of yourself (and are perhaps a bit self-indulgent) or if you want to take a picture of you and and friend. Finally, the LED below the external display flashes brightly when you have a new message.
The worst feature of the Samsung e315 is the built-in speaker. Even at its loudest, it is sometimes still not loud enough (in a crowded club, for example) unless you press the speaker against your ear with excessive force. That can become a problem for those of us who don't like walking around with red marks on our ears each time we get off the phone. The sound also distorts the more you turn the speaker up. It seems that instead of amplifying the volume, it just raises the whole output, making the sound unnecessarily rough. The sound is a bit tinny as it is, and the distortion certainly does not help the matter. The sound is not absolutely horrible, and I guess it is good enough to live with, but there is much improvement that could be made in this area. My old r225 had a more clear output.
Aside from its lackluster sound, the Samsung SGH-E315 is a pretty impressive phone. Its intuitive design makes the phone easy to use and its small form factor makes it great for carrying in your pocket. It flips open easily and the buttons have a nice, solid feel to them. Best of all, the signal strength has been good just about everywhere I've been, and that is a lot of places. While the e315 is hampered by mediocre sound quality, overall it is a great cell phone. |
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