Samsung Z500

The Samsung Z500 has many features;Camera - there are two cameras for those who haven't noticed. One is round and views the user of the phone if positioned correctly, and another square lens on the outside. This is a VGA Camera and can sometimes come out blurry - something that sometimes annoys me slightly. The Video Recorder can record sounds made in the video, such as narration, and can be varied to eject sound and make a silent movie.MP3 Player - Very good sound is given from the "speakers" and the image shown whilst playing an MP3 can be changed to a personal choice, however these are very restricted and can only choose out of around 5. Having a MicroSD card can store MP3s to play them where you want.Quad Band - Use the Z500 nearly everywhere in the world.MicroSD slot - Expand memory up to a compact 4GB for MP3's, images, themes, etc. This slot can be found around the right side of the Z500.IRDA - Use this to connect the Z500 to the computer via Infra-red.Bluetooth - Connect to other phones using Bluetooth, receive data or send data away to another device, connect to the PC, or find someone new. Bluetooth can connect to any Bluetooth-compatible device.WAP/3G - This loosens battery life to a flop sometimes and the battery can go quickly. WAPing can lead you to any website on the Internet though some providers make charges to WAP users.BAD POINTS:- The Camera cannot be operated when the battery life is very low,- Battery life turns to around 3 days. WAP/3Ging makes the battery life to around 2 days.- The Internal Memory can hold 50MB but can be expandable.- THE PHONE IS VERY SENSITIVE! Accidentally slightly drop the phone on the table from around 5cm from the surface and it turns off! This drives me mad! I'm in the middle of videoing and it turns off! This might not be the case for other Z500s but mine turns off if you accidentally bang it with your fist!The phone, overall, is very good.

There are 2 cameras on this Samsung which can be switched for either view. The main camera is on the outside of the clamshell (a square lens) and there's another one in the clamshell which can be programmed to look at the user. It is a round lens. These need to be cleaned not very often. The Camera's view can be altered with effects such as Sepia, Negative and Black and White, but these are only a few effects. Also, contrast, zoom and White balance are enabled. Within the Camera is a video recorder which works well. It can be set to record Audio Sound or not. This is accessible via Options in Camera Mode. They too can be edited to film effects such as Black and White, including contrast, zoom and White Balance.Bluetooth works well. If you look after the Z500 these functions will effortlessly work with no faults. You can search devices using Bluetooth near and receive items. It can be attached to the PC via a Bluetooth dongle and a Bluetooth-activated Z500. Infra-Red (IRDA) works the same. The Z500, pending on your server, can WAP too. It costs money but can go to any URL website whenever you want. Z500 accepts push messages with HTML/URLS.Perhaps the best features are the MP3 Player and the Transflash Card slot. This means you can insert a MicroSD / Transflash Card with ease and then, by PC downloading, can play MP3s anywhere. The Z500 is a 3-G phone and also a Quadband phone, meaning it can operate nearly everywhere in the world.

It has to be said, the Samsung Z500 phone is pants! The battery lasts around 6 hours with a full charge and reception is terrible!! 9 out of 10 times my phone is unreachable or I have no signal to call out myself. Yes, it looks good and it is easy to use, but a phone is used for people to contact you and if they can't get hold of you, then you might as well not bother even having a phone.

I brought my Samsung Z500 because it's small and compact. The battery is standard and it last 3 days without charging it. It has a great video camera and it's the best phone I have ever had. Hooking it up to the computer was a bit hard and I can't download any pics or videos onto my computer. It is a good phone but the instruction booklet is not helpful.

Compared to my old mobile phone which was a Nokia, the Samsung Z500 phone is terrible. Bad reception, and I have to charge it every night. It is nice and easy to use, but I would not rush out and get another. I am tempted to revert back to my old phone. I am glad that it was an upgrade and I didn't pay for it!!

I was willing to love the Samsung Z500 mobile phone, warts and all, as I arranged for my mother to have the E700 (same design, slightly lighter) which was an impressive, if feature light, phone.

However, although I will keep the phone until the contract expires, there are a few niggling faults. First off, the battery life. It really is as bad as all the reviews say. This can be extended by switching off 3G (Settings > Connectivity > Network > Network Mode > GSM 900/1800), which is not a problem at the time of writing, as video calling is just not that big a deal. I tend to leave my phone on night and day and charge it every night. However, if I stop out on Friday night though, and don't get back until Sunday afternoon, the phone has usually switched itself off due to low power. For reference, I send and receive about 10 SMS a day, and I speak for about 5 minutes a day, so I am a light user.

Secondly, when I receive a SMS I open the phone but there is no option to read the message. I have to go into the messages menu and select the inbox and the message at the top. I have added the inbox to a shortcut key, but it's still a bit inconvenient.

Finally, the reception is not bad, but it certainly isn't good. I guess not having an aerial is a problem, although this doesn't affect some Nokia or Motorola phones I have seen. It can work on a low signal without dropout, but it's always nice to see those 'reception bars'.

The external camera is quite a nice idea. You can activate the camera with one of the side buttons, and the camera shows a low resolution picture on the outside display (which also displays the caller if you have their picture stored in your address book), which is a nice touch, although of limited use on a day to day basis.

The user interface is also rather good, although it is not immediately apparent that you can flick through menus using the numbered items on the menu once you have committed them to memory, or by reference to the screen, of course, if they are all in view. I would rate the menu system as being better than Motorola, but not as good as Nokia.

Although I am pleased with the bluetooth capability, 3G (such as it is), the lightweight, compact design and clear screen, I would find it hard to recommend this phone when there are other flip phones that are far superior in all disciplines.

I got the Samsung Z500V mobile phone as I had the E720 and I LOVED it, but this phone? Apart from the fact it's 3G, everything else makes me feel like I've gone back 2 years in terms of graphics. The E720 also allowed for much more choice is terms of how it looks, and this one is so restrictive. I am not impressed!!

The Samsung Z500 mobile phone is dire, and a total waste of time. Tones are not loud enough, and the battery runs down within a few hours (about 7). Vodafone said it was because it was a 3g phone, but what's the point if you can't use it for a full day?

DO NOT BUY THIS PHONE IF YOU WANT YOUR BATTERY TO LAST MORE THAN 2 DAYS!! Need I say more? Dont get me wrong - generally an ok phone - but the claim for the battery standby life to be 200hrs is wrong. Go in to any shop and they will tell you not to expect it to perform for more than 48 hrs. So..... if you want to not be charging your phone virtually every day - my advise - stick to Nokia!

I have been thinking of getting a Samsung Z500 mobile phone, and since I have read some of the comments I am not too sure, but I have had a few goes on my little sisters phone, and I really like it. Please leave any comments or advice.