SAMSUNG SGH-D500 REVIEW

I originally brought this phone as a replacement for my 6600 which was getting too old and long in the tooth (not to mention it's the size of a house brick!) and was immediately impressed by how well set out everything is on the D500; the menu is laid out in a grid and menus have been kept simple - if not quite to a minimum - which allows quick and easy access to the majority of the phones many features.

The screen is simply one of the best in it's class and the whole phone has a feeling of quality - even the sliding mechanism seems to have a satisfying motion and doesn't feel cheap like other "sliders" that are available.

I would like to point out the phone does have a few minor flaws; the camera, for a start is not the best giving blue-ish tints to any photo taken outside (in direct sunlight at least) and often over-exposing light areas of the photos (even indoors), but on the whole it's an impressive unit and certainly everything you'd expect (after all this is a cam-phone, it's not meant to be a "proper" camera).

Java, while a nice addition is very frustrating, especially when it comes to adding new games, unlike most other phone manufacturers Samsung have "locked" the "funbox" (the area where the games are) so that with the exception of downloading via WAP it's incredibly difficult to add a new game (there are endless codes and "processes" to go through simply to get a new game on the phone and I've now given up trying). To me this seems to be the biggest disappointment - modern phones are sold on their ability to have Java games but yet here are Samsung trying to stop the average user from actually adding their own games etc - what gives?

Anyway, rant aside this phone great for most people. I've yet to encounter any problems with Bluetooth or Infrared and have found the whole switch to Samsung to be for the better (with the exception of the Java issue) and at such a good price you can't get much better than this.