Key features:
* Quad-band GSM/EDGE, UMTS 900/2100, HSDPA 3.6 Mbps
* 3" capacitive TFT touchscreen of WQVGA resolution, 256K colors
* TouchWiz 2.0 Plus user interface with multitasking support
* 200 MB onboard storage, hot-swappable microSD card slot (up to 16GB)
* 3 megapixel camera with smile detection, QVGA video @ 15fps
* Secondary video-call camera
* Wi-Fi connectivity (b/g)
* GPS receiver with A-GPS; Free GPS navigation with NAVTEQ maps
* Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB v.2.0
* microUSB slot (with charging support)
* Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
* DNSe sound enhancements
* Find Music recognition service
* FM radio with RDS
* Office document viewer
* Smart unlock
* Social networking integration with direct file uploads
* Accelerometer for auto screen rotate, turn to mute
Main disadvantages:
* Free GPS navigation is for Czech Montes only
* No on-screen QWERTY keyboard
* Flash in browser eats too much RAM, can’t play YouTube videos
* No games preinstalled
* Task manager cannot be used for switching between apps
If you ask Samsung about the future of mobile phones, they’ll say smartphones. Their Bada OS is flying the “smartphone for everyone” flag.
But the market still has quite a way to go till we get there. Right now, feature phones like the Samsung S5620 Monte are advanced enough to blur the line between smart and feature phones.
The S5620 Monte can multitask (though task switching is problematic), it can view office documents, there’s a very good web browser and free navigation This pretty much covers most of what a smartphone will do for you.
The Samsung S5620 Monte offers a compelling package for its price, but it’s getting tough competition from higher end handsets as they’re moving down the ladder.
The LG KM900 Arena costs more, but it comes with 8GB of built-in storage, which levels off the price difference. And its screen has four times the number of screen pixels. Then, there’s the better camera – 5MP, LED flash, D1@30fps video, and goodies like DivX support.
You could probably get a good deal on LG KC910i Renoir or the non-i version too – they’re getting old now, but 8MP cameras are quite compelling.
As smartphones are getting older, they’re moving into this price range too. Take the Samsung I7500 Galaxy, for example – it’s got Android v1.5 (old but still), an AMOLED screen, a 5MP camera. It costs a bit more, but the 8GB storage offsets that again.
Another smartphone alternative is the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic – priced right, rich retail package (including an 8GB microSD card), 16:9 nHD screen and free voice-guided navigation available worldwide with no data connection required.
That sure is a lot of competition, but it’s mostly from handsets that are getting old, which has its downsides (like lower resale value, tendency to get fewer firmware updates, etc.). However, quite a few of the Samsung S5620 Monte attractive features are let down by software (Flash support that never works and poor app switching in the task manager).
So, catching up with smartphones is easier said than done. On a second thought, the S5620 Monte will get away with some faults exactly because it isn’t a smartphone. It’s obvious that it has enough to entice upgraders coming from the likes of Samsung Star or the Corby bunch. Cheap smartphones are a major threat though.
Labels: Samsung
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