Samsung E710 Review

Overall Rating

Compact and Lightweight
Camera/video camera with built in light for 'night' shots
Large internal memory for Pictures and sounds etc.

No Blue tooth
No software or data cable included for downloading/uploading data
Not enough standard Ringtones

I am very happy so far with my Samsung E710, which I had upgraded from a Samsung T100.
It is very compact for a mobile phone packed with so many features, where do I start?

The outer 'OLED' screen is very good as the time and icons display stay lit up, even when the phone is idle. I find this very handy in darker conditions and its not too bright when left on at night.
This outer screen is also used as a green and blue display when taking pictures of yourself. The volume keys and a shortcut camera button are located on either side of the phone.

When you open the phone you are greeted with a very bright and clear colour screen. Navigating around the various functions is very easy with the 4 way nav key and you have the shortcut softkeys either side.

Ringtones are very loud and good quality, but I don't think there are enough of them. Some simpler ones could have been included as well for those who don't want some of the annoying music ones for a ringtone. SMS tones are just as good and they are not so 'over done'.

The camera is great. Before you take a shot you can use some of the features to add a bit of 'fun' to your pics. For example you can use various effects that make your pictures look black and white, inverted (negative), mirror imaged and even have frames around them. You also have the option of what size and quality you want pictures to be.

The video recording mode is just excellent, though don't expect perfect streaming video - its only a phone! But for what it is I find this the best feature on the phone. Filming a few seconds of your mates on the dancefloor in a club and then playing it back to them the next day is always a good one! It even records sound but as it only plays out of the earpiece its quite difficult to hear on playback most times.

For low light conditions, even pitch black, there is a built in light next to the camera lens. This can also be used as a torch when the phone is closed and it is very useful.

Text messaging is very responsive and im saying that because my last phone, the Samsung T100, was absolutely horrible to text from, slow and mistake after mistake. Thankfully its been vastly improved with the later Samsung models.

The games are not too bad. There's a Golf game, chess, one where you have to link pipes and another tetris style game. These are average games but a little on the slow side when loading between screens, especially on the golf one.

The phone book (contacts) is simple to use and you can add groups to it too. You are also able to add pictures to each person on your phone to be used as picture caller id, however when that person calls you can only see their picture flash up when the phone is already open. It would have been good to allow the outer screen to show a green and blue version of the picture when someone rang. You also get the usual calendar, reminder and alarm functions

The call quality is good and it has an internal antenna, so there's one less extra thing to break!

You get two standard batteries with the E710, which when I first used the phone after a full charge lasted for about 2 days of constant use (camera, video camera, torch, WAP etc.). I can average about 3 days, but you do get 2 batteries so all is not lost. Other extra's include a hand strap and a handsfree ear piece which I find annoying as its designed to have the phone hanging around your neck!

Samsung should have included the software to allow for downloading pictures and ringtones. I had this with my old T100. Also with today's technology, Samsung have yet again left out blue tooth.

Overall this phone is excellent in terms of looks and functionality and has all the latest technology (except blue tooth) to keep it in the market for a while.

Members' Comments onmarshallp's Review

• nick13390 on 28th Feb 2004

  Wow. thank you SO much. that was a GREAT review. -my birthday is in 2 weeks time, & I was hoping to get a new phone, as mine is broken; & thanks to you, you\'ve made my day with the excellent review, & soon, I will also be a proud owner of the e710! thanks muchly m8. -NKX

• cmayoui on 1st Mar 2004

  This is a great review. I\'m currently an owner of a Nokia 7250i and I can gladly say that I\'m now sick to the back teeth with Nokia. I\'ve owned Nokias for years. This review has basically proved to me what I was starting to learn. The Nokia is outdated both in looks and functionality, this Samsung sounds excellent all round. I have a friend who owns this phone....I\'ve had a little tinker on it but after reading this I now know all the ins and outs. I now may well be the proud owner of a Samsung at some point this year!
  
  Thank you for the detail you\'ve gone into.
  
  Mayoui.

• desdesigner on 5th Mar 2004

  An extremely helpful review there mate, many thanks. I’m currently the owner of a Nokia 7250i and can safely say that I’m in need of a new handset soon. The Nokia 7250i was one of the first camera phones out; hence the reason i bought it, but now, it’s heavily out dated in every field. I have researched this handset by downloading the user manual from the Samsung website as well as having a practical muck-about in a phone shop posing as a potential buyer. A very good handset indeed. I’m looking forward to owning this little baby. =)

• martinward2 on 6th Mar 2004

  The review of the e710 sounds excellent !this easy to use stylish mobile with all the latest functions seems just what i am looking for .thanks for a good honest review of this phone. cheers

• bigchief1976 on 8th Mar 2004

  I recently bought this phone. Have a look at my webpage for some pictures:
  http://www.1nc.co.uk/samsung_e710/samsung_e710.htm

• Michybug on 22nd Apr 2004

  I have the E700 at the moment and its a great phone but was let down by the fact that you cannot assign tones that you have downloaded to each person in the phonebook. You can assign default tones, but not the downloaded one that you pay a fortune for! So you can only use the downloaded tones for everyone ringing in. Anyway, was wondering if the E710 was like this as well. Can anyone tell me the answer to this? I had an SGH-500 b4 and my partner had the T100 - you could assign downloaded tones on these phones - but not the E700. If I find out that you can do this on the E710 then I will upgrade to one. Cheers in advance to anyone that can help me. Mia_Williams@hotmail.com

• darkwing88 on 9th Sep 2004

  Pitty about the horid Vodafone Menu, if anyone knows where to get the original Samsung Firmware for E710, Please make a link available for it.