Review of the Samsung SGH-D900i mobile phone

After all my hemming and hawing, I finally bought my replacement mobile phone over the weekend. Despite my dithering over the Sony Ericsson and Nokia phones and despite popping by many many times to feel and play with them, I decided against the SE and Nokia because when it came down to it, price mattered to me, and SE and Nokia were just too pricey for what was being offered.

I spent Saturday walking round and round the mobile phone vendors in Sg. Wang Plaza, comparing phones and prices and eventually, when I decided to settle for the Samsung SGH-D900i, it came right down to the price. I got the D900i for RM880 (without a memory card because I realised I never used my previous memory card) which I felt was a good deal for its specs. I just checked back, and realised that I bought my previous E830 for the exact same price! The upside however, is that the D900i is in fact an upgrade from the E830 so I’m a happy camper!

I was actually swayed initially by the sexiness of the U600 with its touch pad menu for only about an extra RM200. However, after playing around with it, I decided that I wasn’t stylish enough for such a stylish phone, and I did not like the touch pad. I have a paranoid fear of it not working and that I’d be unable to make phone calls when that happens.

So, do I like my new baby? Its early days yet, and it is essentially got the same functions as my previous Samsung E830 so I’d say I’m pretty ambivalent about it.  However, what I really love is the fact that the camera is a 3.0 MP and has auto-focus. I know a phone camera is no substitute for an actual digital camera, but this works wonderfully in a pinch! Here are some pictures I took with it yesterday.

Indoor shot

Outdoor night shot

Close-up macro shot

And I don’t know what shot this is, but its my Christmas tree – isn’t it pretty?

So, as a camera to work with in a pinch, I think its pretty decent. My brother has the D900 so I was no stranger to this model. Size wise, its about the same as that of the D900 except that this one’s thinner. It was Samsung’s thinnest phone at 12.9mm until the U600 came along at 10.9mm. The thin factor is great, and the screen is really bright and sharp.

The phone has a metallic shiny look to it but the metal bits (shiny plastic) are only on the front of the phone, not all throughout the body as the phone pictures seem to show) I’m not too enamoured by the metallic finish though. To me, it makes the phone look rather cheap. And it does have a plastic feel to it. When I held it together with the D900, I found the D900 feeling more substantial than the D900i. I’m also afraid of the metallic and shiny bits getting scratched so that doesn’t bode well.

The keypad again, seems to suit smaller fingers because the keys on the lower rung can be quite hard to get to. However, once you get used to it, I don’t see it as causing too much of a problem.

Mobile-Review has one of the better reviews I’ve read on this phone, so if you’d like to read a technical review, it would be a good place to start. I’m only able to give a lay-person user point of view – not that its a bad thing right?

Overall, I think its a pretty decent phone for its price. Its an interface I’m familiar with, and I know I won’t have a lag or joystick problem, which I feared with the Sony Ericsson K800/810 and Nokia N73. Its also slim, which is great. I actually toyed with the idea of the Nokia N95 but sanity prevailed in the end. I still don’t have wi-fi but as everyone pointed out before, wi-fi for under RM1000? I’ve got to be kidding right? I’ll leave that for my upgrade in a year or two eh?