Samsung SPH-M500 multimedia phone

The flip phone looks like the long-lost twin of the Samsung SGH-T619, but it trumps its brother with its 3G capabilities and microSD memory expansion. Jennifer Hooker puts the M500 through its paces.

Design

We did a double-take when we first saw the Samsung SPH-M500, seeing as it looks so similar to the Samsung SGH-T619 on T-Mobile (read our full review). Like the T619, the M500 isn't a stunning clamshell, although we still admired its sleek, understated look and its slim profile (0.7 inches). The M500 also shares the same 262,000-color screen as the T619, but the M500's wide, flat keypad has a glossy finish compared to the matte finish on the T619's keys, and more importantly, the M500 adds a microSD expansion slot on its right side.

Multimedia - Very good

The EV-DO-enabled M500 features the entire Sprint Power Vision lineup, including access to Sprint TV and the Sprint Music Store. We were able to browse through news clips and movie trailers with ease, although the relatively blocky image quality was about average. Unfortunately, our review unit couldn't purchase any tunes from the carrier's music store (PR reps assured us that this won't be a problem once the phone is released), but we checked out the Sirius and Sprint radio offerings, and we were particularly pleased with the handset's support for stereo Bluetooth. The clamshell's Web browser also performed well, loading most URLs without a hitch; it even loaded up The New York Times site without crashing, albeit sans photos.

Camera - Good

The m500's 1.3-megapixel camera isn't spectacular, but takes average photos and features many ways to get your pictures to your pals, including MMS, Bluetooth, and PictBridge. Image clarity is decent, as is the color balance, but we were annoyed by the lack of a zoom unless we used a ''fun frame.'' Once you snap your shot, there's not much you can do to jazz them up, but the phone does offer frames and color adjustments that you can add to your snapshots.

Part2

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